"THE BROGUES"

Once upon a time in the green, green land of Rogues There lived a clan of little people, called Brogues Brogue was a lilting language that enhanced the spoken word And brought a smile to ones face, whenever it was heard They lived within the forests, inside a ring of trees Quite content to stay that way, in a life of perfect ease They dressed in colors of the land, of course that was green Which in itself was security, they were never really seen On the toe of their shoe, hung a little bell, that only they could hear And when they heard that little tinkle, they would totally disappear Inside the ring of trees, they lived with crocks of gold They found it all beneath the earth, at least that’s what I was told A Brogue went astray one day, as he woke up from a long sleep His surroundings were unfamiliar to him and he began to weep He shook his leg in a call for help; he thought he would be found He was too far away, from the ring of trees, for them to hear his sound He was also outside the forest, unprotected from being seen That is how I met him, so tiny and clothed in green I didn’t want to scare him; I whispered and said “Hello” He looked up at me with teary eyes that seemed to say, ”Please Go” Instead I sat beside him, totally amazed at what I was seeing And I told him I wanted to help him, just like another human being He asked if I could get him back, to where you don’t grow old In return he would reward me with, one big crock of gold We rambled on through the forest, until we found the ring of trees Once he stepped inside, everything was green and I was on my knees I was all alone, he was gone and this part I have never told There in front of me just beneath a tree, was a sparkling crock of gold Michael Christopher Daly April 20,2008