Monday, July 19, 2010

Birds of One Feather

Artist Unknown

Phineas woke up one Fall morning
To find the leaves turned brown and withered
He donned a sweater and a scarf
And human hands to keep him warm

At the wharf, he met a sage
Handless, hairless, and lined with age
"Fortune, fortune, will I read,"
Cried the sage, to mislead

Chirping and whirring with delight
Phineas agreed to pay any price
The sage raised his stumps, a dark, dark blight
And looked askance at Phineas, twice

"Fortune, fortune will I read,
For your warm mittens and a bead,"
The sage was sly, and Phineas simple
A devil's deal...if 'twere not for Kimpel

 Kimpel the Fisherman, young and wise
Had made a pledge to his mother dear
To protect the innocent from false scries
For to one, she lost her heart sincere

Throwing aside his fisher's creel,
A strong, firm hand did Kimpel use
To halt the lies, the steal, the deal
And stop a most unfortunate ruse

Cries and howls, unholy to hear
The sage let loose with a single tear
Phineas, simple and kind at heart
With his mittens did he gladly part

Alarmed by kindness, the sage did pause
As the cold shriveled the boy's poor claws
"Ye are good," the sage did say,
"I am changed, from this 'ere day."

Kimpel assessed and judged and nodded
Truth was told, redemption awarded
So the boy, the sage, and the fisherman together
Became fast friends, Birds of One Feather

6 comments:

  1. Welcome back and I enjoyed the story.

    I hope to be able to change a few sages during my lifetime as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. you are back!?!?!?
    i've missed you.. :)
    j.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Did you write that? My god, it's perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are you kidding? You had me at: "human hands to keep him warm."

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this!! Did you write this? OMG the talent!! :)

    ReplyDelete