Last Laugh

Story poem

 

 

Last laugh

 

A tiny weather beaten man.

A gnome who had no fixed abode,

 he spends his life upon the road.

 He wanders freely because he can.

 

Legally he does not exist.

Nobody knows his pedigree

 his parentage or family.

 His past is hidden in the mist.

 

Familiar to everyone

except to blind officialdom.

No man can bid him go or come.

He does as he has always done.

 

He travels round the countryside

.Content to forage for his food,

he sees no reason why he should

by other peoples rules be tied.

 

He would work hard to earn a meal.

Always ready to lend a hand

 to country folk who understand

Though he’s a tramp he does not steal.

 

He’d take a rabbit or a hare

without a qualm for they were free

 or roosting pheasant from a tree

 and tickle trout without a care.

 

He dines as well as any king

Dame Nature supplies all his needs,

 some nourishment he gains from weeds.

He knew the worth of everything.

 

Which walked or crawled or swam or flew.

Knows where and when to find wild fruit,

herbs and tasty fungi to suit

his taste with which to flavour stew.

 

A small man self sufficient

 in every way a man can be

He lived his life completely free

of any cause for discontent.

 

He was found dead one winters day.

Became a burden on the state

I’m certain he’d appreciate

 that at the last the state must pay.

 

24-Apr-08

 

 

Reviews

[Rockebah]

I like the story line behind this poem. It was good. Though there is an error in the fourth stanza, second lline. Minor. Overall i loved it.