THE DARK KING AND THE LADY IN WINTER

'Twas all upon a winter's eve
When wind was blowing cold,
A gallant knight came riding by
Upon his steed quite old.

The lady saw them hurrying
Up to the castle moat,
And thought, "More unexpected guests!
That really gets my goat!"

You see, the lady's hands were full:
The Dark King had the flu
And trying to take care of him
Was all that she could do.

Besides, the dragon had a cold
That wasn't very nice,
For when he tried to thaw the moat
He only breathed out ice!

As if these problems weren't enough,
It was the previous day
That Nereid and Triton had
Arrived for a short stay.

The knight knocked at the castle door.
She opened it with dread
And knight and steed came walking in.
(The horse's name was Fred.)

Knight's ancient armor dripped rust spots
As he walked through the door,
And as for Fred, well you should see
What he did to the floor!

Meanwhile the bath was occupied
By Nereid and Triton,
Who couldn't use the frozen moat.
And had no place to light on.

The Dark King's fever raged and when
She ran to heed his calls
The lady fell because the dragon
Iced up all the halls.

The knight had introduced himself
As doctor, but instead
Of healing he did calculations.
Blood he left to Fred.

But Nereid was a good nurse
And with her sweet accord
Fred hauled a tub of water in
And made a nice sick ward.
And very soon she patched them up,
With Triton's and Fred's aid,
The Dark King defervesced and dragon
Soon a nice fire made!

The lady's broken ankle mended
Nicely in a while
And the good knight told jokes so that
She soon began to smile.

She then decided none of them
Should ever be called pests
And never again did she moan at
Unexpected guests!

~ Marilyn Gordon~
March 2, 2002

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