The Age Oddspot — Tuesday December 4, 2012
"North Korea has proved the existence of the unicorn.
Archaeologists say they found a large rock
carved with the words ‘‘unicorn lair’’ near a temple in Pyongyang.
The temple was once used by an ancient Korean King, Tongmyong,
who, according to written texts, kept a stable of them 2300 years ago."
(I’m assuming that the ‘them’ refers to unicorns and not temples
but you never can tell with The Age.)
The Dilemma of a Horn
The ancient king, Tongmyong,
Kept unicorns, but knew it wrong;
Those most wond’rous beasts
Were kebabs at his feasts:
A delicacy but, alas, not for long.
The unicorn stocks declined
As the King nonchalantly dined.
He caused quite a scandal
Using the horn as a handle,
Compounded by a poor choice of wine.
When last was just fricasseed,
The King was forced to concede
He’d mishandled the flock
And labelled a large rock
In memory of the end of its breed.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2012
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Ha ha ha - wonderfully witty!
ReplyDeleteA horn of not so plenty! Delightful!
ReplyDeleteOuch. I long to believe in dragons and unicorns. At least no-one would munch on a dragon without risking being the munchee.
ReplyDeleteHa, leave it to the North Koreans!
ReplyDeleteLaughing !!! Well, I guess I shouldn't. Didn't any Unicorns make it South to preserve their Souls? ;-)
ReplyDeletepretty sad...even then our consumption killed the magic...cute verse but there is a lesson within as well...smiles...
ReplyDeleteUnicorn kebabs--that's as good a theory for unicorn extinction as I've heard. Very funny, and the limerick form is well chosen!
ReplyDeleteSilly and at the same time an echo of loss that has been too real. Mismanagement and Monuments, or what is a memorial for?
ReplyDeleteIn ancient Greece, I believe the monuments were built by victors in battle to placate gods who might want to avenge the fallen.
PS: Good poetry!
Deletenice tone here. Fun look at the myth. Quite the ending for such a fantastic beast, creatively dreamt.
ReplyDelete