Grimm Meet

When the roof came down in the copper mine

There wasn’t much hope, we said,

Those twenty men on the south-west drive

Are buried, and probably dead.

The guys came in from the midnight shift

And they shovelled away ‘til dawn,

Pumping air in over the drift

They propped where the roof was torn.

 

For nearly seventeen hours they worked

They took it in turns to drive,

A passage was finally opened up

Though the men were barely alive,

I watched them all come staggering out

They’d all survived to a man,

But the last one out had begun to shout:

‘There’s a guy in there, like Pan!’

 

They sent in the stretcher bearers, who

Were there for an hour or more,

The men were shaken and pale of face

And wouldn’t say what they saw.

The stretcher was bearing a crumpled form

That they’d covered up with a sheet,

‘We’d better be taking this to the zoo,

And everyone, be discreet!’

 

A rumour, much like a whispering sigh

Was spread through the mining town,

For everyone wanted to know the guy

They’d pulled from under the ground,

The men they’d saved from an early grave

Lay still in their hospital beds,

At every question they looked away,

Just lay there, shaking their heads.

 

Their syndicate lottery numbers won

On the Tuesday of that week,

A million each for the twenty men

But still, they wouldn’t speak.

I guess I was feeling curious

So I took myself to the zoo,

They’d closed it down for refurbishment

But I knew the keeper, Hugh.

 

He put his finger up to his lips

And he said, ‘Don’t make a sound!

You’ll get me shot if as like as not,

They see that you’re looking round.’

He let me in through the rear gate

That was clogged with vines and weeds,

And we crept unseen where we’d best be screened

In the shade of the lilac trees.

 

He pointed me up to the Tiger’s cage

And he said, ‘You go ahead!

I’ll not be going further than this,

But don’t get close, or you’re dead!’

I wandered carefully up to the cage

It was slowly becoming dark,

And something hung in the evening air,

A sulphurous smell in the park.

 

The Tiger lay all over the cage

Its body was ripped to bits,

Its blood was spattered in violent rage

A snarl was on its lips,

Then from the rear of the cage a shape

Came shambling up to the bars,

It stood upright as a human might

But it certainly wasn’t ours.

 

The eyes were narrow and slitted, and

They glowed with a dull rich red,

The beard was long and the teeth were strong

Set deep in a goat shaped head.

It seemed to be wearing an evil grin

As it seized the bars with its claws,

And over above its pointed ears

Was the hint of a pair of horns.

 

Its legs were the crooked legs of Pan

There wasn’t the slightest doubt,

I took one step away from the cage

And stifled a fearful shout,

But then its shape had begun to change

And a tail whipped round at the bars,

It was long and pointed, covered in scale

And marked with a hundred scars.

 

It grew in size, in front of my eyes

As I stood, stock still and stared,

Pressed its face up close to the bars

And grinned with its nostrils flared,

A sudden flame shot out of its mouth

And a voice rose up from its gorge,

And rasped a name that lay deep in my brain,

‘So we meet again, St. George!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

The dragon slayer reincarnated. I love it! As always, your story was engaging from beginning to end.

I love how you incorporated Pan into the story. I think this lent itself to easy visuals for anyone who has seen the movie.

Wonderful, as always.

[TL Boehm]

Holy cow they dug up the dragon. I have always been fascinated by what might be lurking in the deep - under the crust.

[Tate Morgan]

what a tail? lol well we all have nightmares Some are a bit more real than others

[Baby Ricochet]

Now that's what I call one hell of a great poem. Outstanding work sir!

[Strider Marcus Jones]

Compelling magical tale. Most excellent story, characters, rhythm, language and structure. 100/100

[Marie]

I always liked Pan myself, but of course this was't the musical goat-creature; it was a dragon.

Pan was nice.

[Sabina Sindhu]

Although the poem is long enough, it's good. I liked it .

[TPK Stories]

I love this story! Another great story!

[Emerald Seas]

Very intriguing tale, David. Kept my attention and I do enjoy a witty horror this time of year. Wonderful story and of course, written with care. Excellent!