The Monster in the Woods

The Monster in the Woods

They say there is a monster in these woods.
It lumbers as it fells the trees in swaths.
It leaves behind two oily leaden paths
that stand where leaves of underbrush once would.
I’ve heard that some, in stupor, stopped and stood
to watch it gorge and spread its tyrant’s wrath
and, trudging on, release its vapor bath
dispensing fumes beneath its angry hood.
The people once tried to do all they could
In an attempt to slow the Jagganath,
but men in suits as oily as the paths
denied them, claiming for the greater good.
And, Loki led, the monster blind as noble Hoth
Kept killing brother Baldr, armed with scythe and snath.


poem written 11/14/06