The Three Goblins

A goblin called Gordon once lived in an oak.
He was quite a big hit with the tree fairy folk.
His brother called Gavin lived up in an elm
and everyone said he was lord of his realm.

Their cousin called George was the sycamore king
but a woodcutter came and he did a bad thing.
He came to their forest and chopped down their trees
in the middle of winter and left them to freeze.

So, they ran to a village and found a warm place
away from the cold but a tabby gave chase.
Gordon and Gavin and George on the run;
goblins whose troubles had barely begun.

They hid in a sofa and lay very still
and waited and waited and waited until
the cat went out prowling, but they couldn’t flee.
A family came in and switched on the TV.

The family were heavy, the goblins were crushed
and people like these never hurried or rushed.
When one programme finished they turned on the news
and argued together, expressing strong views.

The Goblins fell silent, their fears went unspoken
beneath heavy bottoms and springs that were broken.
Gordon and Gavin and George trapped beneath
bottoms that offered them little relief.

Then late in the evening the family slept
and Gavin and Gordon and George slowly crept
from where they were hiding and danced down the hall
delighted and gay with the thrill of it all.

They picked up some objects and took them away
for they knew that the humans would miss them next day.
Some coins and a rubber, a pencil, a pen
and took them all back to their new cosy den.

An old mobile phone and the bathroom door key,
so happy were they to be careless and free.
Gordon and Gavin and George on a spree.
When goblins are playing, what fun there will be!

Perhaps in your house things go missing a lot.
That fan that you wave when the weather is hot.
The Seven of Spades has been lost from the deck
and that chain that you only just took from your neck.

That white liquid paper you might like to use
on homework’s an item you frequently lose.
A hand down the back of the sofa will find
the doll’s favourite dress which had long slipped your mind.

A lolly gone hairy before you could suck it.
I’ll bet you a euro some hobgoblin took it.
Gordon and Gavin and George on a charge.
Three grinning goblins forever at large.