Thursday 10 April 2014

The Mountain Man


The Mountain Man lived
On the mountain peak
In a tiny hut.
He kept his food
In two straw baskets
That hung down the slopes
On either side.
Thus he maintained
The balance of his life.

One day a month
He went to the market.
Pointed and paid
With golden coins
And the villagers whispered
Stories of his strangeness.

One curious boy
Followed The Mountain Man
Back to his hut
On the mountain top.
A path with no hiding
But the man did not turn
And the boy was sure 
He could become invisible
If he stood
Completely still.

The man went inside.
The boy stayed outside
And waited for something
Unusual to happen.
But The Mountain Man
Only built a fire
And made some soup.

The boy grew hungry
With watching
And nibbled from the basket
By the side of the hut.
The more he nibbled
The hungrier he grew.
Until the hut began
To tilt and slip.

The man rushed out.
He saw the boy.
The boy trembled
Could not become invisible.
The hut trembled too
And fell
Into the below.

What have you done
To my simple slanting bones?
Cried The Mountain Man.
His first words in years,
Crows escaping
From his throat.


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