lanx australis

young cardigan mark was a good modest man
who lived in the country and drove in his van
and every which day he’d go every which way 
in search of a coffee and eggs in a pan

now cardigan mark in his travels one night
came up to a path that was hidden from sight
for the shadows of trees and the whoosh of the breeze
were fine camouflage in the darkening light

so cardigan mark he there took a left turn
to see what he’d find and to see what he’d learn
but in back of his mind he would play and rewind
the words of his mother so cautious and stern

of ‘cardigan mark don’t you go out at dusk
in the fields full of pumpkins and corn and corn husk
for a creature lives there who can kill with his stare
and is fearsome in battle with weapons of tusk’

well cardigan mark was a man now, full grown
and felt sure he could fell such a beast on his own
but he’d stepped not a foot in the shadowy soot
when from up past the bushes he heard a great moan

so cardigan mark with a shake in his boots
crept with deepening fear through the rustling fruits
watching silhouettes stir, catching glimpses of fur
and all the while stumbling on ornery roots

old cardigan mark though his memories fade
still remembers the sight of the beast in the shade
and the stench of its sin and the gleam of its grin
and the crumbling old shell of a world it had made

yet cardigan mark he still stepped into view
with the crunching of leaves dead and emptied of dew
and he caught the beast’s eye and there rose a great cry
that while heard far and wide was forgotten by few

then cardigan mark broke straight into a run
and fled from the battle he thought he had won
something something something else

alternate ending:
and the beast was a symbol of corporate greed
whose want so eclipses the small business need
and which licking its chops and with teetering stocks
had entered the dark of the market to feed