A Hero's Challenge

• Eleanor Edwards, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2018

My eyes can’t leave the page. I’m enchanted by this book.
It’s just so captivating, though the damsel is a ‘sook’.
I read the thrilling words; hero pops out right on queue
Sword in hand, goal is set, he knows just what to do:
To slay the dreaded dragon, he charged first, then attacked
surprise and wily power this fearful beast just lacked.

He made his way through dense, thick woods; to climb the rough-stone tower,
Peering through the window, he heard singing from the shower.
His face turned red, he scratched his head: his mind was in a whir,
Before him stood a naked lass, brushing a cats’ wet fur
“Achooo, achoo”. Now mortified, he had a sneezing fit:
Allergic seizures flung him backwards. It was time to quit.

Profanity and bruised ego pierced the air along the way,
As finally he thudded to the ground on which he lay.
Her face, with rounded eyes searched the gorse bush down below as she told him: “If you don’t like cats – you’ll really have to go”!