The Magic Has Gone
Frost’s fingers withdrew and let go of the world.
Winter’s heart was melting away.
When the wizard appeared and his magic unfurled.
Reaching out to lighten our day.
He did tricks to amaze, astound and delight
in a world every moment less real.
He kept us enthralled well into the night
with the incredible and the surreal.
The village welcomed him into its heart
and extended its invitation to stay.
Till one day he woke and declared he must part
then swiftly and smoothly vanished away.
The next spring as we dealt with the annual snow’s melt,
in the gradually brightening weather,
the magician, still tanned and healthy and svelte,
came striding on out of the heather.
He juggled with balls that he conjured from air
He cast spells for our satisfaction.
He had tricks and ruses with diversions to spare
and provided a welcome distraction.
There was nobody had sufficient time to play host
so we directed him to a suitable tavern
But lacking the fervour he could previously boast
he marched away again through the bracken.
The subsequent year held problems galore
with a winter we barely survived
Then just when we couldn’t have taken any more
the spellcaster finally arrived.
He patched up our homes and cleared out the fields,
cured our cattle of most of its ills.
He put charms on our grain and promised good yields.
Even sharpened our tools with his skills
We worked him hard, told him to sleep in the stall,
and were glad that he seemed so naive.
He was almost a slave at our beck and call
till we finally allowed him to leave
One year later he was long, long overdue
and we were starting to worry.
And we had no idea of what we would do
if he did not appear in a hurry.
He eventually came but aware of his name
this time, and how much he could ask.
So he laid out his fees without any shame
saying what we must pay for each task.
And as on his magic we had come to rely
we had no real choice, so we paid.
Then an unoccupied building he decided to buy
and in our little village he stayed.
Remembering three years of what had seemed oh so clever
I wandered along to look on.
But though his powers were even greater than ever
somehow the magic had gone.
