OH HARK 26

Past skeletal trees and eerie copses, they threaded their way
To some inner choir, the trees now started to sway

 Louder became the drums, frantic their  beating
Was this some sort of tribal or , maybe ghostly greeting? 

The forest reeked with the  odours of watchful hostility
From behind a bush came the strains of a mournful ditty.
Was some bird rehearsing  its autumnal lament?
Things were definitely not hunky dory ,it now was apparent.

Suddenly at the double, some  men on  them charged
Who were these weird folk who on them had thus barged?
Attired in helmets, breast plates and tunics of leather
 Towards them frantically  flocked these birds of the same feather.

The beating of drums had now reached a crescendo
Through the trees,there was visible a wavering glow.
 One of the men towards the poet walked.
 Stood before him, and with the poet his eyes locked.

" We have come to take you to the camp fire, do not fear.
  With a hand on the girl's shoulder, he said," come on dear."
Enraged, the poet doubled his fist and smote him on the jaw.
Alas, this violent streak proved his tragic flaw.

With yells of anger, all of them pounced at him.
The drummer and the girl shivered, times were grim.
 A deer pricked up its ears, and in its tracks stopped.
With a shaking hand , the drummer his brow mopped.

"Now , follow us to the campfire,  where you will be  roasted.
 And this girl, who is one among us, will be toasted."
Said a mammoth man with a voice as deep as a well
The girl was petrified , when an owl hooted  a warning  bell.

 Suddenly they were enveloped by swirling clouds of fog.
Next to them now materialised a ferocious looking dog.
 With cautious feet they walked toward some place unknown.
Suddenly their jaws fell , while the dog hunted for a bone. 


 Figures sheathed in white, around a fire danced.
They stopped the dance and in their direction glanced.
 With a terrifying cackle  three of them towards them dashed. Breaking into  a cacophonous chorus, their teeth they gnashed.




"Woe , woe , woe to them, good is bad and bad is good
Woe , woe woe to them ah here comes sumptuous  food.
 This drummer will be a tasty morsel, with some ancient rum
 A combo pack with snakes' fangs , a dog's snout, ho  hum."