THE WITCH AND THE VIKING

THE WITCH AND THE VIKING


Under the xenon lights,
During an evening stroll,
I saw a sagacious
Rhino in New York zoo.

As I watched the rhino,
There came flying from sky
A quizzical witch quite
Aggressive, peculiar.

Soon afterwards there came
A nincompoop Viking,
Opulent and wearing
Jocular uniform.

The witch, cold and dreary,
Asked in expectant tone:
“Did you bring the zinc box
That you promised last time?”

The generous Viking,
Kind and benevolent,
Told the ignorant witch
In a heraldic voice:

“It’s no frivolous task.
It’s too tender, rather.
The zinc box has powers
Magical, sinister.

The lurid fact is this,
That one having malice
Cannot posses this box,
Else it will bring sure death”.

Angered by this, the witch
Moved her magic wand and
The rhino was a horse,
On which she jumped at once.

But while going she moved
Her wand and the Viking
Now became a rhino,
Under the xenon lights!


• Written in 6-6-6-6 format, [36 lines, with 6 syllables in each line].

• Written for the “The A-2-Z Contest”, "Invalid Item" , Round 1, where the prompt was to build a poem using 26 given words, each starting from A to Z. The 26 words that had to be used are indicated below in capitals. This has been done to ensure smooth reading of the main poem.


M C Gupta
28 January 2008
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THE WITCH AND THE VIKING


Under the XENON lights,
During an evening stroll,
I saw a SAGACIOUS
RHINO in New YORK zoo.

As I watched the rhino,
There came flying from sky
A QUIZZICAL WITCH quite
AGGRESSIVE, PECULIAR.

Soon afterwards there came
A NINCOMPOOP VIKING,
OPULENT and wearing
JOCULAR UNIFORM.

The witch, COLD and DREARY,
Asked in EXPECTANT tone:
“Did you bring the ZINC box
That you promised last time?”

The GENEROUS Viking,
KIND and BENEVOLENT,
Told the IGNORANT witch
In a HERALDIC voice:

“It’s no FRIVOLOUS task.
It’s too TENDER, rather.
The zinc box has powers
Magical, sinister.

The LURID fact is this,
That one having MALICE
Cannot posses this box,
Else it will bring sure death”.

Angered by this, the witch
Moved her magic wand and
The rhino was a horse,
On which she jumped at once.

But while going she moved
Her wand and the Viking
Now became a rhino,
Under the xenon lights!