The Arrow

 

Once an arrow

Of a land named Gloop

Of concentric circles in hoops

Passed through leaping blazes

Its fiery flames

And disconcerting gazes

Of the trees that hatched

And contrived they a plan

To play with fire

Its match

Called black tinder head Princess Audrey

A ravenous crow

Hungering for truth and justice

And her witches' nest

Filled with straw, twigs, branches and leaves

Who’d light the Sun King

Fire ball

And make him burn piteously

His mighty auburn or orange flare

Like a peeled lemon

So that nature blossoms and flowers

Her fruits of labour the blessed trees

Whilst we humans tan

From brown to yellow

And bronze to gold

Even rust to fiery orange or copper

 

Early at dawn would fair Audrey

The ravenous crow

Hungering for truth and justice

Settle her tinder head

Upon the sky its tinder box

Fire flint against the blue behemoth land

It sparked it spewed

Courageously a hue

So splendid and bright

Lit the heavens and land

Morning brilliant stars

Around the jubilant head

Of King Fireball

Forthright, godly and righteous

Who jolted the throngs with whips his golden thongs

Of his spellbinding gilded chariot

That gonged through the entire valley of King Fireball

With his golden cannon balls

And many golden arrows

 

With “Caw-Caws” and “Chak-Chaks”

She’d surprise everyone at dawn

Waking up Lord Fireball

“Rrrrrach Rrrrrach” as she lit up her

Fire flint of steel or tinder

The ravenous Audrey

Hungering for truth and justice awoke

The magnanimous sun

Its breath and vigour

From cotton candy clouds of meringue

Upon the mighty land of Gloop

Of concentric circles in hoops

So that trees would flower whilst we tan

From brown to yellow

Bronze to gold

And rust to fiery orange or copper

Her tender black flint head ignited it

With flaming sparks of roguish flames

As her mischief called sizzling hot

Flirty glances with her charcoal frock

As she enlightened and he burnt

The slough and his sleigh

 

Thus burned he with splendour

Distributing his magnanimous rays and beams asunder

On a pretty ragamuffin boy

Who watched the valorous King

He spied

King Fireball practice to aim his bow

And many valiant arrow heads nobly and low

This small ignoramus, unlearned boy

Wished thence to catch

One of his golden arrows

 

The sun King Fireball aimed and

Arched his v shaped stripling sinewy body

Glinting his smouldering eye

With his right hand a bow he curved using

One of his many splendid arrows with sharp V’s

By his left

Straight right on its needle pointed ends

Aimed its golden arrows

Slim as a reed

Pointy as a needle

Quick as a steed

Pure gold and full of splendour

Worth many carriages spun of golden thread

Tales woven of hay to gold

Or cities carved of glittering gold

 And glowing ruby embers

Silently flew right off his fiery bow

And behind one such flaming golden arrow

Ran after it the poor urchin ragamuffin boy

Following the golden arrow

Gleefully

 

As it swiftly ran its course

One of King Fireball’s sunny arrows

Right hand he held high with pride

His precious bow

And with precision cursed again

By his left sinewy arm

Another golden arrow

Cruising past vales, lanes

Grooves, mounds, knolls

And hilly tussocks

Atop bridges, castles, belfries

Mountains, domes, temples

Even generous gorges it sprawled

And churned

Into oceans and ponds

 Leaping high with a bound

Brilliantly many more than dozens

Heaps and in numbers

Flew from his golden bow

Golden arrows

By his golden gilded chariot

His brilliant sunshine beams

 

The poor ragged boy dreamed his heart full with longing

If only he possessed one such ray Divine

Of the brilliant golden beams

Would make him rich and powerful

As the splendour of the royal Fireball King

“A ray of sunshine

A hope of promise”

Was all that Princess Audrey

The ravenous crow

Hungering for truth and justice said to him

As by her kind tinder head

A lilting song sang

“Rrrrach Rrrrach”

Lit the morning sky

Ebullient dawn

Her noble heart

“Rrrrrach”

Once more with rapture

The setting sun

King Fireball

 

Nevertheless the ray of sunshine

Soon turned into a gloom of darkness

Upon the earth fell a disdain

When the Kings carriage

Sent the third golden rod as sharp as a needlepoint

Another golden arrow

From his gold bow

All at once darkness fell

The quaint and quiet land

Whence pierced the poor ragamuffin’s heart instead

Wounded and killed him instantly on the spot

All who loved him dearly

In the land of Gloop

Of concentric circles in Hoops

Delighted in once his company

Now in dismay held a funeral

Full of misery, woe, sorrow and tears

Mourning and weeping

For once a happy lad

 

Even his friend the ravenous crow

Audrey

Hungering for truth and justice

Cried for the sweet ragamuffin boy

Along with her friends

Humans, trees, birds, fishes of the sea

And the wild beasts of her jungles

Sounded a moan sonorous and deep

A pang of grief

Now spread through the land of gloop

Where sunshine

Magically circled

In concentric circles in hoops

 

Audrey the fairy ravenous crow

Hungering for truth and justice

Her witch’s hat

Soon brimmed with her tiny fledglings

When out of an egg they hatched

Into precious stones

Wearing crowns of

Diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, amethyst and sapphires

Five merry hatchling crows

Her heirs with crowns

Named Jeremy, Jill, Joe, Jack and Lenny

Happily came they

Poking their heads through

Cracked shells of Humpty Dumpty

But upon broken shells did walk the

 Abysmally ignorant urchin friends

Of the poor ragamuffin

Whence learnt they of his sad demise

And of his strange wish

To own just one golden arrow

Of King Fireball

 

So the fairy Audrey

Decided next when she’d spark

Her tender tinder head

With her lilting song

“Rrrrach Rrrrach”

To awaken the sunny King at dawn

Would tell him of the unfortunate story

Of the poor ignoramus boy

Named Ragamuffin

Whilst she still was busy tending after

Her chicks

Fluff balls of cotton wool and feathers

Fledgling heirs

Princes and Princesses

 

With her black beak sharp

Would provide them food and water

A worm, a piece of fish or decayed flesh

Of a rabbit or squirrel even if it tasted

A day or two old

Thence “Rrrrrrrrrrrach”

Her lilting song

The skies with her tinder head

She ignited

Vice Versa did happen

Magically the colour did change

For the best

From bright orange sunset

To mellow clouds of slate gray chalk

Thence to a blackboard charcoal and pitch black

Thus she tried to extinguish

The flames

Of the noble King Fireball

A mellow “Rrrrrach” again

Thence doused flames bright with lustre

As when it had dawned

“Rrrrrach Rrrrrach”

Now soon ‘twas dusk again

After she lamented the fate of his actions

Like a sunset much sadder

The sunny King his sunny aureole soon fell

When he learnt what his deed had done unknowingly

The sun king like a blob of an immense red fiery tear

Shed his volcanic eyes erupting magnificently

Soon dowsed again and into the salty sea he dropped

Did he repose as he lay down the horizon

Where mighty ships of gloss sailed the

Glaze of the glassy sea

Now set his golden crown under the turbulent shore

 

The ravenous Princess Audrey

Hungering for truth and justice

Did not rest nor weep

But decided to undo the sleeping spell

Cast on the poor ragamuffin

Flew swiftly and silently

Tarried dear her feet

 Upon a blessed spot

On her friendly trees

So dismal and dreary

Where lay her witches cap

With her nestling fledglings

On some forlorn branch

Of a forsaken beach

 

By a swish and dive of her black wing

Along the rustic countryside

Stirred up a mellow breeze

Gaining force thence into a gust

Shuffled leaves and dead bracken

Upon the coffin of the Ragamuffin’s sombre grave

A breathless breeze

That once like dying breath stifled him in sleep

Now whistled eerily and howled

Hoping to wake up the dead boy

Dead leaves shuffled and stood again

Like a house of cards upon his forsook grave

Paying homage like a breath of life

Whilst Ravenous Princess Audrey

Hungering for truth and justice

The ebony crow

Slept she sadly and sorrowful

Eager to know what the outcome of such a blighted story

Would turn out to be

That she’d confessed to the mighty ebullient King

Would thus intensify with candour

When dawn became

 

In the meantime the night covered bleak its curtain

As his Queen Moonlight arose

From the embers

To comfort the grief stricken King

A murderous mistake he committed

Without purposely intending

To be malicious

Such erroneous a deed done!

As the starlight fairies whispered in the Kings ear

To make a happy wish for him

For they could bear not

To see him so morose and gloomy

So weeping inconsolably the King Fireball

Told the precious starlight fairies

To wake up the poor unconscious boy

Ragamuffin from his dreamless slumber grim

 

Soon her tinder head once again

Lit the King a match supreme

With a lilting song the skies

“Rrrrrrrrrrach”

And the sun rose

No more jovial or jaunty

But morose and sadly disposed

But all that stopped for he smiled again

Proudly his heart rose from the ruby ashes

For in the night time the precious starlight

Fairies had awoken the poor unconscious boy

Ragamuffin from his trance like slumber deep

 

He rose from the depths of his grave

An embodiment of Christ the King

Thus redeeming him from death to glory

Now the ashen boy

Was with the Glorious King

Possessing as many as a thousand golden arrows

Instead of one

Reigned he his chattel

And rode he his splendid golden horses

Upright again

And no more downtrodden

 

The righteous King

Showered upon him a miracle

The many rays called sunshine

As dawn crept out from the pathetic core

Of human apathy and disgrace

He withheld the King Fireball’s

Gleaming crown of dignity and glory

Where with King Fireball, the urchin boy

Righted the wrong

Riding upon his flaming winged chariot

With flamed horses that by hundreds and thousands

Galloped with fiery wings

Upon the blustery winds

Though held neigh to his beating heart

Dearly the one priceless golden arrow

He wished so much to possess

Of the land of Gloop

In concentric circles of hoops

 

As for fairy crow Princess Audrey

And King’s Queen Moonlight

Took turns to light up the sky

A pact they promised to keep

Between themselves

Sometimes the ravenous Princess

Hungering for truth and justice

“Rrrrrrrrrach” would light

With her tinder head mantle

A lilting song

The Sun King Fireball appeared

And sometimes to look after both he and his chattel

She’d obey Queen Moonlight

As Queen Moonlight bade her King a good night’s rest

Again “Rrrrrrrrrrrach” would Princess Audrey’s tinder head light again

Her lilting song

Blithe morning would turn to blissful night

The Sun King Fireball disappeared far below horizon

A bleak sunset!

Whilst Queen Moonlight appeared once more

With her subdued mesh of nets

Queen Moonlight sailed the black night its luminous heavens

Curtsy King Fireball and the starlight fairies

In a boat along shimmery glistening stars

Now sailed the king, queen and the urchin boy ragamuffin

In a cosmic dream

 

Whilst the ravenous Princess Audrey

Hungering for truth and justice

Finally her wish fulfilled

Her tinder head and her witches cap

Called sticks of heaven

Ignited all of them

Dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk

Obeying commands

Of a pact once made

Each taking turns one by one

The sun King Fireball

The moon Queen Moonlight

The Bright Arrow Ragamuffin lad

Distributing all around ‘True Light’ and ‘Just Beams’ brightly

 Now Princess Audrey no more ravenous

For she rightly saw truth and justice

She was fully satisfied!

Her hunger and thirst for purity and perfection!

Before her very concise charcoal black eyes

Black as ebony coat

Shiny as tar her little hatchling cherubs

Flew along with her

Jeremy, Jill, Joe, Jack and Lenny

The precious crow stones

Wearing crowns of

Diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, amethyst and sapphires

Flew right throes of ever-changing night sky

Its blighted canvas yielding the sea

Tormenting those who couldn’t see and yet were blind

To its glorious resurrection of poor urchin boy of goodness and light

Now illuminated with a myriad of tiny light houses

Strewn here and there the shore side

Along the silvery crested waves

Dotted with winged glowing water nymphs everywhere

Called the earthy star light fairies

Travelling afar the watery kingdom

Full with beams brightly!