Poetry collection

[corncobman]

Pg 333

Stomping, He Spurts, Swan Leaves Him Hurt

From a pool almost endless
He rises from the depths.
Floating upwards, senseless.
From death, a feather's breadth.

Dragged by a helping beak,
By his cloak, to the shore.
A stomp, forth water leaks,
Until he's spurting no more.

Air once again drawn,
Gasping, clutching, the twonk.
Thus the innocuous swan
Leaves with a parting honk.

[corncobman]

Pg 334

Felt Not So Nice, Melting Soul Ice

Paddling gradual,
Away, almost mocking.
The man left fragile
By the swanny honking.

His hard-sought sibling
Bestowed nonetheless.
Lying in the rippling
Water waking in a mess.

The soul shell shining,
Light signalling life.
A hold the all-enshrining
Melting chunk of ice.

Arising, overlying,
Starting, stirring, shaking.
From the blob liquefying,
A little head awakened.

[corncobman]

Page 335

What Did He Do? The Swan Coming Is True

The two ice block halves
Split for her to emerge.
She's to continue her path
Until their demon is purged.

A state of perplexion
At the irregular outline.
Surprise to commotion
At the sibling supine.

What has Onni done?
How? What manner or method?
That son of a gun, has
He messed with the death god?

She pecks his face frenzied,
Now the swan will come kill him!
Calm down, little thing, steady.
The swan's permission was given.

From pure white to red,
A new appearance at will.
Transformed, the swan's head,
Feathers, giant eyes and bill.

Unmoved character translated,
With eyes almost in a scowl.
To get Tuuri placated,
Permission was granted, for now.

[corncobman]

Page 335/336

Swan From The Lake, The Madman Will Take

To a corner long forgotten, long lost,
Long surrendered in a lifetime absent.
To breach, to retrieve, no matter the cost.
A dark, endless drop, a trying descent.

Look not too long for a familiar soul
Endless, countless lights, enclosed ice coffins.
A hard compromise for that which he stole.
One soul for two, even his own offered.

Back with the living, agreement brokered,
A face-full of beak, pecked after wakened.
Be chastised by a frantic snow bird,
The swan will come and you will be taken!

Calm down little one, it has been allowed
Her permission has been given, for now.

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Page 336

A Few Weeks To Date, So Far, Not Great

Better not make the swan
Regret its gracious kindness!
Fetch the soul of the wayward one
Preferably with no mess.

Do it cleanly and fast
Without giving her a headache!
"Have a good day!" Splash! Splash!
It dove back into the lake.

It departed from their midst,
They have their objective.
The birdy couldn't resist
To then suddenly peck him.

That's Lalli up to speed,
That's all Tuuri knows.
She's been here a few weeks,
The progress has been slow.

So rather far from ideal
All the events up to date.
The spirit reveals that
It's not going that great.

[corncobman]

Pg 337

They Don't Need Help, They Just Need Help

She knows Onni's mad
That he's in danger here,
However Tuuri's glad!
They need help, it's clear.

In spite of Onni's bluster
That he needs no assistance,
All the help they can muster
Will meet little resistance.

Do they have an iota
Of what he's dealing with?
They've been adequately posted,
He's been hunting granny's myth.

On the hunt for their matriarch
Who has now become a kade.
She's not one, Onni remarks,
She is part, her soul one of many.

[corncobman]

Pg 338

A Clump Spirit-Wise, Protection - Bears Of Size

How many it comprises,
It's difficult to tell.
It's like a lump spirit-wise,
They all used to do spells.

Mages that were ensnared,
Off guard along its way.
Who knows and who cares
Who was the original kade.

Some random old world person
Who would have become a mage.
It was weak is his assertion,
It has protective bears arranged.

If it can't get in his mind,
It's nothing, all but toast!
Will he in time regret his pride,
His vain, hubristic boasts?

[corncobman]

Pg 339

At An Impasse, Bear Groupies Alas

They're a bear horde,
Consisting of three.
Always acting in accord,
They all seem to be.

Does the kade trail them,
Or are they following it?
They make his task unavailing,
He can't get close to it.

With big bear bodyguards
Flanking the target kade,
His errand all the more hard
With those things in the way.

The problem's main core
Is the big bear leader.
It's the matriarch for
Nothing seems to defeat her.

[corncobman]

Pg 340

Big Mother Bear Grooms, Giving Plenty Of Room

Great big mama bear
With instinct of tons.
The mother takes care
Of the two smaller ones.

It keeps them on track,
Grooms them, protects them.
A scrawny troll tried to flank,
The big bear just wrecked 'im.

If they are such a threat, how
Does Onni observe all of this?
Good job being smart, big vet,
Tuuri's the one to witness.

From the air, keeping her eyes
And so details to relay.
Onni's only seen the ursines
From way far, far away.

[corncobman]

Pg 341

Skin Contaminated, By Touch Irritated

They have identified
The weak link in the chain.
It's particularly sensitised
Due to its cutaneous complaints.

It's an ugly, sickly thing,
The weakness has been exposed.
Irritated by the string
Is the derma decomposed.

Lined the path all innocent,
Inadvertently it nosed.
A very touch is irritant,
Cords cut the figure closed.

Innocuous cables caught,
Strands stretching in strain.
As the tension pulls it taut,
It can only groan in pain.

[corncobman]

Pg 342

Herding Bears To Get Them Out of There

By controlling its movement
They control the entire group.
Corralling thus the malcontent
Will throw them for a loop.

Trying to drive them like this,
To a location for a trap.
Or throw them off a precipice
Completely off the map.

Why indeed is the mage so terse
Doing bear-herding in a city?
Such a place would be the worst,
Anywhere else would be more fitting...

Thank Mikkel for his wisdom great,
Onni never thought of this!
The bears ran into the city, mate,
They're trying to get them out of it!

[corncobman]

Pg 343

Take A Breath And Talk About Death

Every time he tried to
Get them to a good spot,
They would turn aside
And it would be for naught.

They'd run closer to the city,
Meaning weeks of frustration.
Just when he was getting pretty
Good, came the congregation.

Another thing to worry about,
Insists, he was fine on his own.
He may be a little stressed out,
As his outburst has clearly shown.

The last question remains,
Reynir asks "What about Surma?"
Onni racks his brains.
Did seagull guy not mention that?

Not understanding their talk,
Ignorant as they debated.
Sigun is not in this dialogue,
They'd better translate it later.

The great beast sensitive
At the loud sounds around it.
He says, casually dismissive,
He hasn't encountered it.

--------------------------

Pg 344

Was It Made Up? Mikkel Stitched Up

Not as it was stated,
The monster that's alleged.
He think's it's fabricated
To keep people on edge.

At each other they eye,
Their reaction is apparent.
They're pretty sure, no lie,
That Surma is on the hunt.

Mikkel's been firing his
His gun, Reynir lies.
Stoic as they're conspiring
To make him the fall guy.

With mounting evidence
Why is he not surprised...
But if he's still not convinced,
Lalli saw it with his own eyes.

[corncobman]

Pg 345

No Shooting For His Sake, No Such Promise He Can Make

Do Onni a solid, not
To shoot things anywhere near.
Mikkel cannot promise, soon
He might shoot bears, he hears.

Throw some more logs on the fire,
The medic gets to translation.
Checkup with doctor kitty esquire
For a de-stressing consultation.

Making a review directorial
Of all the information drawn.
Attention, listen up you all!
She's put her best thinking cap on.

[corncobman]

Pg 346

Sauna Shared, Biggly Hair

A plan of action she's drafted,
To hunt bears with no-one eaten.
Bestest thinks, carefully crafted,
With this they'll not be beaten.

With the three young 'uns in sauna,
Discuss the leadership conference.
Big hair, jealous primadonna.
The scout between, in annoyance.

The plan's complicated, she warns.
The others probably won't get it.
Mikkel to the latter-born,
Will have to explain the set up.

This is the plan, she declares,
Unfurling the mighty page.
A sheet with diagrammed squares
And directions to engage.

[corncobman]

Pg 347

The Plan She Refers Is Only Complicated To Her

The plan so complicated,
Very deep and intricate.
Is it as cryptic as slated?
They've to dig a big pit.

Line the trench with stakes,
And cover up the opening.
As obscure as she makes it,
It's taken all of her cunning.

"I don't think he gets it."
Mikkel begs to argue.
Such an impenetrable etching,
However they'll get through.

With the diagram read
And the elaborate plan mapped,
All being done and said,
Tomorrow they'll set the trap.

[corncobman]

Pg 348

The Plan Is Decided, Get The Bears Divided

Of their assignment aware,
The planning stage done.
"We'll take out these bears",
Sigrun says, "one by one."

Shadow falls upon the outfit,
The kitty and birdy curled.
With the morning comes the pits,
Again against the silent world.

In a not-too-far locale,
The obstacles to their aims,
The bear family in turn shall
Await the night for their game.