Poem: "When Life Gives You Dragons"
This poem came out of the March 1, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a picture prompt from aldersprig and sponsored by janetmiles.
When Life Gives You Dragons
By the time the mage school got around
to expelling its most hopeless student,
it was already too late.
The dragonmice from a failed experiment
had already invaded the town
and the newly musophobic cats
were hiding in the basements
licking the singed stumps of their whiskers.
The dragonmice broke into the storehouses
where the cheesemakers kept their cheese.
They chewed holes in the wheels
and breathed fire
and melted the remaining cheese into puddles.
The dragonmice broke into the storehouses
where the restaurateurs kept their potatoes.
They gnawed holes in the bags
and breathed fire
and cooked the potatoes to brown crisps.
The young men sent to clean up the warehouses,
being young men and therefore hungry,
looked at the melted cheese and the crisped potatoes,
and put them together
and began to eat.
By the time the mage school got around
to sending someone down to deal with the problem,
it was already too late.
The villagers were already getting rich
from increased tourism and exports,
and the cheesemakers and restaurateurs
were in no mood to have their livelihoods threatened.
So they kicked the mages out of town,
told the school to pack up and lease property elsewhere,
and lived happily ever after.