Once upon a Poem

Once upon a time,

In woods of thistle and thyme,

Lived a lonely man called Griselhiem.

 

Raised by a woodsman from the age of three,

Griselhiem would never see,

Beyond the woods which haunted he.

 

Until one day the king’s men rode through,

Claiming a beast chased them, of which none knew,

And their weapons too few.

 

The woodsman cried in terror of a fright unknown,

But then came bravery from a seed barely sown,

Griselhiem stepped forward without even a moan.

 

In heroes tone he cried, “The beast I will slay!”

Then they laughed and said, “Go away boy and play.”

Griselhiem left instead to fight the monster that day.

 

Carrying a woodsman’s axe and a heart full of hope,

Griselhiem cried out and spoke,

He said, “Come out monster for I shall not flee nor elope!”

 

The beast came forward as lithe as a cat,

A massive animal that came forward and sat,

It looked curiously upon the young hero as it laid itself flat.

 

The monster then spoke and said right then,

“I do not wish to fight such a good man of this glen.”

And instead headed back up the mountain into it’s den.

 

When Griselhiem returned he found the men waiting,

They cried out in shock and began stating,

“We thought the monster would surely kill you without hesitating.”

 

But Griselhiem smiled and said, “No matter.”

But they cried out in loud voices, “He made the beast scatter.”

They then feasted with him on plates and platter.

 

Griselhiem went with them in the morning,

Back to the kings palace for his adorning,

To enter in with shouts and horning.

 

When he entered the palace he was taken with joy,

They cried, “A hero is here and this is the boy!”

Even the king smiled with coy.

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