Composition #47

Come now all,
and gather round,
to hear a tale
of world renown

Of two most brave and foolish man
one named Leonard, one named Ben

As child Ben had been a dunce
had dropped his schoolbooks more than once
had tripped on roots not by chance
Stepped on foot when dance

As child Leo had been keen
to meet the King and meet the Queen
but they would not see heem
they would call for their scepter
call for their crown
call for a fiddler
call for a roast lamb
call for a poet
call for a jester
call for the beheading of the poet
call for the pardoning of the poet
call for their gold,
call for pug
but they would not call for Leo,
Sad Leonard,
He turned at last to the heavens, shouting
up to the blue,
'What have i done to you"
"Why do the crumbs of the Lords fall on my head"
"Why do I beg as a mangy dog"
"Have I been a victim of Chance"

And at last the rains quelled his voice
And Ben had taken this road by choice,
And chanced upon Leo at the edge,
And offered him a cut of bread

and so the two began to talk
and learned each other well as ought,
and formed to friends, not small but large
and said they would two command a barge

To sail to the east and make their fortune
Whatever may come and whoever may seek them
may come aboard, to find their fate
to meet the soon-to-be irate
Lord of the west,
and Lord of the East
Master of war,
Master of sleep.

***

And as they set off to sail the seas,
they felt as both a slight unease
a queer sense of not e'er returning
that set their stomach bags a'churning

Puis un homme qui ne parlait que francais,
Il leur a qu'ils allaient tous etre morts
Il leur a dit cela avec impatience
Mais ils ne pouvaient pas comprendre francais.

So they carried on, with head held high
Sure that the boat would hold them tight
Sure that they would both not die
To the East they go hand in hand

Ben three days in told his friend
That his life would surely end,
If they did not find fresh water
Or some food to hold him over

Sadly Leo looked to him
told him that he could not go
To the east to find these rations
to the east to unkown nations

So ben looked into the barrels
Looked in one, two, ten, and twenty
Saw not any food of plenty
Saw no water kept for drinking

Then when 3 score days had passed
Ben saw feathered ones alight
Saw an island with his 'glass
turned the sails to get there fast

Ben now withered to a husk
Thought this day would be his dusk,
Set ashore with a final attempt
to find some thing to appease his want

There ashore was fruits aplenty!
fruits and trees and grasses too!
There a stream flows good as any!
Oh how delicious it seemed to Leo!

Leo rushed to fill a cup
with thoughts of feeding his bony mate,
But as he lifts it to his lip,
The precious draught evaporates

Baffled, he tries once again,
to give to Ben the stuff he needs,
and to Leo-nard's Chagrin,
the liquid just as soon recedes

Ho! what is that sound I hear?
From the trees comes a ghostly sound,
swaying leaves foretell a beast
some hellish brutish firehound

But to Ben and L's surprise
An old man emerges with a stick
hobbles over, "look at his skin",
weathered, elephantine, and thick

"leave from here", he says to them
"You have come for no good reason"
"Heal us, help us, good man friend"
Leo simpers with good reason

"Have you come to seek more treasure?"
"Or to win favor with a King?"
"If you've come to seek your riches,
Leave us now for we have none."

Leo gasped and looked below
Ben had shrunk into the sand
He had died 3 ticks ago,
unbeknownst to his friend.

Leo, in an angry rage,
struck at the elder with his hand
only to be bitten back
by a snake

Now our two men on the sand
both now in nobody's hands
the old man turns and walks away
Glad to have stopped these men
from destroying his one home,
for their exploits.
For their want of lumber,
of gold,
of silver,
and ores,
of meats,
of fur,
of oil and nuts,
of spices,
of labor,
and of silk from the East.

Here good people, we are done
this was the story of two men
learn now all, not to set sail
to an island in the East.