Folk Tale
by and published in Edition Ten of Pomegranate
As he rode through the forest he met a bear
who regurgitated the key to the city.
A man on a barge took the boy and his horse
twelve miles downstream; the boy
sat on his horse, the man sat on the prow
with a copper telescope, peering
toward the impending citadel – hoping
to catch a glimpse of the girl
doing star-jumps naked, bar a tiara,
he’d once either seen or dreamed he’d seen.
On his way home, having failed his quest,
the boy spilt a honeypot into his lap
and was eaten alive by a different bear
who also swallowed the key to the city.
This is the state of our ancient mythology
since the last of the gods lost interest.
John Clegg
John Clegg was born in 1986 and studies for a PhD in Durham. Some of his poems are featured in the upcoming Salt Book of Younger Poets, as well as Succour, The Rialto, Mercy and online at Pomegranate. His e-chapbook Advancer is published by Silkworms Ink, and a full collection is forthcoming from Salt.