POETRY IN RHYME - RHYTHM CONTEST-winner

Farewell Noble King

The King’s reign was glorious and noble
It’s state marked by beauty not by conquest
His wisdom was beyond compare
Until that serpent became his guest

The wise old monarch had grown weary
And his pet snake stole away his throne
Even as the great king still sat
So old and thinned down to the bone

With a favor the snake stole his heart
With an idea he stole his mind
With a potion he took his health
And now my king is too far-gone to find

From across the sea I came to save him
But was shocked by what I would find
Not a kingdom but a wasteland
Was all that the reptile left behind

And so I gathered up my men
And headed toward the beaten path
But I didn’t see the awful truth
To save my lord I’d have to face his wrath

Out of the forest charged my kin
Old friends and brothers alike
Each’d been bitten by the snake
Each believed in his reich

Metal clashed and blood was shed
Till only me and my brother stood
He lunged for me so I chopped off his head
And told myself I fought for good

I rode for two days and slept for a night
And slowly caught up to my king
I spied him lying in the grass
Chained and beaten by the thing.

Then moving towards my lord
I saw the serpent slithering ahead
I drew an arrow from my quiver
And placed it on the thread


I held in a breath and pulled back the string
Eager to let the missile fly
But then the snake grabbed him and said with a hiss
“Shoot and your sire will die”

My frail king was already lost
And the serpent had to be stopped
With a tear in my eye I let the arrow fly
And the snake and my king dropped

The arrow was in the snake’s neck
But the Reptile’d cut my lord’s throat
I fell to the ground in dreadful grief
Struggling to keep my thoughts afloat

My great king was dead
With all the wisdom had he
And as the sky turned grey I knew
Gone was all prosperity