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"SSC 11 - The Shoe Tree"

There was an old man who had lived in a tower,
And every child who passed he would devour,
So bricks were laid by men with concrete and grout,
To keep the old man in, and the children out.

The children however would often creep in,
By climbing the walls just to see what's within,
But they'd watch in horror as one child would fall,
The old man would appear, the victim enthralled,
So afraid of the man, the kids would lock tight,
Scared of the boys fate and solid in fright,
"He'll swallow him whole!" whispered one boy aloud,
As the old man covered the boy in a shroud,
Wrapped the boy up and then thrown over his back,
Carried to the tower in his makeshift sack.

Now no-one was certain at least what he did,
He would give no clues to the fate of the kid,
There was only one thing that would guarantee,
That the boy's shoes would be tied high from a tree.

The shoe tree, they called it, with trainers and boots,
The laces entwined with the leaves and the shoots,
Was it there as a warning to all that would climb?
A memento of captures, pride in his crime?
No-one was certain, except one small bright man,
His name was Billy, and he had thought up a plan.

Billy had everything, except for his legs,
Which were lost in mishap, now replaced with pegs,
With a push and a shove he scaled up the wall,
The garden inside he pushed forward to fall,
As ever before, and within the hour,
The old man carried him back to his tower.

When Billy awoke from the sleep he had found,
That he was strapped down, with chains locked all around,
"Old man," He asked, "So I guess now you eat me?"
"Why yes" He replied "At once and completely"
"Then please" Billy said "Will you eat my feet first?"
"Well I do tend to begin wherever meat's worst."
He took Billy's shoes and bit into his stump,
And Billy tensed up with an almighty thump,
That caused his pegs to split and widen apart,
And burst his head open and stopped his black heart,
For Billy had designed his legs to expand,
And to open by clenching to so he'd command.

And that is the story of why the shoe tree,
Is often used in our vocabulary,
So next time you find that your shoes are too tight,
Give a cheer for old Billy, the peg-legged knight.

There was an old man who had lived in a tower,
And every child who passed he would devour,
So bricks were laid by men with concrete and grout,
To keep the old man in, and the children out.

The children however would often creep in,
By climbing the walls just to see what's within,
But they'd watch in horror as one child would fall,
The old man would appear, the victim enthralled,
So afraid of the man, the kids would lock tight,
Scared of the boys fate and solid in fright,
"He'll swallow him whole!" whispered one boy aloud,
As the old man covered the boy in a shroud,
Wrapped the boy up and then thrown over his back,
Carried to the tower in his makeshift sack.

Now no-one was certain at least what he did,
He would give no clues to the fate of the kid,
There was only one thing that would guarantee,
That the boy's shoes would be tied high from a tree.

The shoe tree, they called it, with trainers and boots,
The laces entwined with the leaves and the shoots,
Was it there as a warning to all that would climb?
A memento of captures, pride in his crime?
No-one was certain, except one small bright man,
His name was Billy, and he had thought up a plan.

Billy had everything, except for his legs,
Which were lost in mishap, now replaced with pegs,
With a push and a shove he scaled up the wall,
The garden inside he pushed forward to fall,
As ever before, and within the hour,
The old man carried him back to his tower.

When Billy awoke from the sleep he had found,
That he was strapped down, with chains locked all around,
"Old man," He asked, "So I guess now you eat me?"
"Why yes" He replied "At once and completely"
"Then please" Billy said "Will you eat my feet first?"
"Well I do tend to begin wherever meat's worst."
He took Billy's shoes and bit into his stump,
And Billy tensed up with an almighty thump,
That caused his pegs to split and widen apart,
And burst his head open and stopped his black heart,
For Billy had designed his legs to expand,
And to open by clenching to so he'd command.

And that is the story of why the shoe tree,
Is often used in our vocabulary,
So next time you find that your shoes are too tight,
Give a cheer for old Billy, the peg-legged knight.

Great stuff. Some of the rhythms are disjointed but for a poem, it reads well enough. Tis an odd little tale and a good one.

Bit of a tenuous link to "wall" category though, unless I'm missing something.

Delightful, Grix.

Thanks.. :) No, it's not that rhytmnic or whatever, just kept every line to 11 syllables, it kinda works.

And I agree, it doesn't really have that much to do with walls.. I started it out and made it up as I went along, then I thought about throwing the children's shoes into a tree and forgot about the wall completely. Oh well :D

Favourite line:

"Well I do tend to begin wherever meat's worst."

I enjoyed it.

"The shoe tree, they called it, with trainers and boots,
The laces entwined with the leaves and the shoots,"

Wonderful.
Though the walls were hardly at the fore-front.

I really enjoyed that. It brought back a memory of the voice from the Grinch when they are introducing the story in rhyme. Superb, Grix.