Poem: "The Goatherd Troll"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the October Crowdfunding Creative Jam.  It was inspired by a prompt from stryck who then went on to write another poem inspired by it.  Read the related poem "Horns and Hooves" by stryck.  I decided that posting this one was only fair in return.

Saanen goats look like this.  They are a very popular breed of dairy goat.

The Goatherd Troll

The troll does not live under a bridge,
but in a tidy little cabin up the mountain
where the grass grows in sheltered meadows.

He keeps a herd of thirty white Saanens,
their calm temper a soothing presence,
their bells like distant music.

He milks them every morning and every evening,
ushering each one into the stanchion
with a scoop of grain and a kind word.

Let other trolls mug the travelers for their gold.
He makes soft white cheese to sell in the market
and daisy chains to share with the human girls.

Comments

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Cool! :-)

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Sounds a lot like Heidi's grandfather. Those goats even look like the illustrations that were in my copy of the book when I was a youngster.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I think the illustrations I've seen were Alpines or Toggenbergs: I remember the striped faces.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Monsters herding critters... I almost expect a boat-load of Greek soldiers to show up and spoil the party. :P

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Wow. Yeah. You are a scholar and a gentlebeing; I wouldn't have come up with that really nifty connection.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I have a brain that's prone to multiple intuitive leaps. That isn't always a good thing. There used to be a time where I would've just made the comment about the Greek soldiers without the monster herder reference and, thus, would've been met with blank stares... unless there was a fellow intuitive who could follow the connection back. Then both of us would have been stared at funny. :P

Aww...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I love my audience. It has such awesome people in it.

Re: Aww...

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Hee!

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

BTW, you're amazing for understanding the reference: too often, I find myself having a "Handy" moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su9daHxMX_c

(Edited 'cause the damn imbed codes still don't work in replies.)

*laugh*

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and my_partner_doug is a Tick fan, too.

One time, we were sitting around the living room here at Fieldhaven with a bunch of friends, and somebody quoted the first line of "Jabberwocky." The next line quickly followed, and amongst the bunch of us, we managed to recite the whole poem.

Whereupon Tim looked at us and declared, "You people have reached a whole new level of geekdom in my eyes."

Re: *laugh*

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

LOL! That's awesome!

Re: *laugh*

[cissa.livejournal.com]

When we were in 6th grade, my group of friends and i all memorized "Jabberwocky" and would break into the quoting at any provocation. I think our teachers were both annoyed and amused.

We were definitely proto-geek girls. We were also VERY competitive with our match scores, and shut the boys out of the top ranks- which drove our (male) junior high math teachers CRAZY-mad.

Re: *laugh*

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Good for you.

I actually got drafted onto my junior high math team. My mother was running it and said that since they needed more people and I was third-best in the school, I was it. I pointed out that I sucked at math and hated math. I can't add and get the same answer three times running, even on a calculator. And yet, I score in the top third nationally. (I can only assume that the economists are out of the bottom two-thirds who didn't have my sensible reaction of deciding that since I suck at math I shouldn't use it professionally.) But yeah, I wound up on the math team. Scary.

Re: *laugh*

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* That's awesome! I suppose I'll have to, instead, settle for quoting Monty Python at the drop of a hat (like spontaneously singing "The Lumberjack Song", for example).

Re: *laugh*

[cissa.livejournal.com]

It's scary that, something like 40 years later, I can still quote THE WHOLE THING! :D

[kelkyag]

It's an excellent reference. I'm not sure I'd've followed it without the extra hint, but with, it was appreciated here, too.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks!

[cissa.livejournal.com]

I LOVE!!!! this poem.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to hear that.