Alas, alas poor Nigel,
intentions cruelly spurned,
he wooed a painted statue
with ardor unreturned.
His home a rocky outpost
beneath a rugged sky,
his love a cold illusion,
an unremitting lie.
Though courting quite adroitly
with ballads nicely done,
the one for which he sang them
heard not a note begun.
They found him there beside her
his story sadly o’er
alone among the boulders
his love songs sound no more.
________
Phil Huffy is a reformed lawyer whose earlier hobby of songwriting and musical performance led him to try a little poetry. He is quick to point out that songs lyrics and poems are not the same thing, being cousins, not siblings. Recent and scheduled placements of his work include Gold Dust, Light Magazine, Westward Quarterly, Better Than Starbucks, and Haiku Journal. He lives in Rochester, New York.
________
