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

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