General Poetry posted July 25, 2024


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magical meeting

Hedgehog Moon

by gansach

In forest medeival, dark and deep,
 
upon tiny trails with delicate feet,
 
waddles the hedgehog, spiny and small,
 
alert and ready to roll in a ball.
 
Beneath the bright, full moon, round and white,
 
he skitters and scampers through the wild night;
 
surprised by badger, rugged and rough,
 
rolls toes to nose, vanishes in a puff.
 
"Come out, little hedgepig," badger growls
 
while shaking and snapping his hairy jowls.
 
"I'm grumpy, I'm mad, I've had enough.
 
"Uncurl, hedgepiggy, I'll munch you up."
 
"No thank 'ee, sir, I'll stay as I am,
 
"protect tender tummy best as I can.
 
"Don't 'ee be angry, I'll soothe with song;
 
"a verse of Sweet Genevieve can't go wrong."
 
"Who taught you this song?" the badger asks.
 
"Was it Merlin, the wizard? Please unclasp."
 
"Aye, Merlin's the one, but, if you please,
 
"I'll just keep my nose buried in my knees."
 
"No, no, little friend, I knew you then.
 
"Who thought we would ever meet up again?"
 
Badger nudged the hedgehog with his snout.
 
"Uncurl, little piglet, and please come out."
 
But hedgehog just sang Sweet Genevieve
 
and, under that moon, badger took his leave.
 
 

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This poem was inspired by a scene from one of my favorite books, The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Merlin turns Wart into a badger, but Wart is in a bad mood. He meets a hedgehog in the night forest and threatens to eat him, but discovers it's one of the hedgehogs Merlin kept in his cottage. Wart wants to be friends, but since he is in the guise of a feared predator, the hedgehog just serenades him and stays rolled up.

From my poetry book One Light Beside the Moon; a collection of moonlight and madness (Watermark Press 2001). Artwork by High_Flyer on Nightcafe' @Foxyfyreart
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