And this was the place, long ago and under younger summer stars
That they came upon the chimera, and spilled its guts with many sleety scimitars

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 9, 2019

Look! From the dead wizard’s ashes leviathan statues do shudder up and walk
Upon what dread mission do they so silent and terrible stalk?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 10, 2019

Five little princes
Vying for the throne
Four got poisoned
Leaving one all alone
The vizier crowned him
And to the new king said
“Better outlaw poison
It kills kings just as dead!”

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 11, 2019

1)
The heartbroken queen ends her fierce gods-hear-me call
And turns abruptly, and leaves the room
So the jester can emerge from hiding ’neath bedstead tall

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 9, 2019

2)
To exchange looks of despair with the seneschal
For the queen’s will dooms them both, and all
Who dwell in this kingdom now lost in gloom

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 9, 2019

Our king is in need of a new queen, interested royalty inquire within
Six predecessors beheaded, but mayhap you’ll outlast and so, win

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 11, 2019

Down in the valley where the scorched corpses grow
There sat a dragon, her banked fires a-glow
Along came a knight, on dragonslaying bent
But she yawned, and off to the flames everlasting he went

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 12, 2019

I asked the King for a splendid mount
To ride and fight in the war he was waging on the Count
The King told me to walk and make no more demands
So I went deaf to all royal commands

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 12, 2019

The royal riders cross the realm, for new sacrifices must be selected
The dragon gets impatient when they aren’t all waiting to be collected

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 15, 2019

Headsman, Headsman,
Do your duty
Remove the head
Of yon traitor beauty
Then send it to the King
Without delay
There’s a recipe
He wants to try today

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 15, 2019

Put up thy sword, I pray, and spare the king for the realm’s sake
For if the throne be emptied, lawlessness shall the entire land overtake

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 16, 2019

And on her slender fingers gleamed such beautiful, enchanted rings
That I quite forgot they were prisons for the souls of so many proud slaughtered kings

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 17, 2019

This world would be brighter, if its shining crowns
Were not all worn by such shining clowns

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 26, 2019

Behold his gliding ghost appears
Awaking widows’ sighs and lovers’ tears
Too late now to do good deeds shall he ride
But he did all the bad ones ere he died

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 25, 2019

The Curse Of Kings:
Come hither, all ye wind-bloated kings
Your reigns shall all be empty things
And when you steer the ship of state
Ignominious shipwreck shall be your fate

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 25, 2019

2)
And the wyrms started flying
And all of us started dying

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 18, 2019

The witch is gone, no matter how
Only death god’s warhorn shall wake her now
And as new dark evils rant and prate louder
Her reputation shall fade as theirs grow prouder

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 24, 2019

The princess stings under every rebuke
Which is why this morning she drowned a duke
And through a high window his duchess flung
From true lineage of peaceful warriors she is sprung

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 24, 2019

I became a mighty wizard, so that you
Might instead of me be in yon stew

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 13, 2019

When all horrible monsters and dastardly foes
Are dead, having been gleefully cloven asunder
How then will our dread army keep on its toes
I wonder?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 14, 2019

A long ago dragon found a knight a tasty meat
Now wyrms chomp them like snacks in the street
And that is why boldly dragonslaying Sir Halvaray
Is nowhere to be seen today

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 15, 2019

Our bard was given to spouting atrocious verse
Our barbarian cut him in half to make it terse

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 16, 2019

Heroes make nothing happen
Without wild violence, so strap in

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 17, 2019

The dragon is too much with us; pouncing late and soon
Preparing for hours, we fight but it scornfully lays waste to our powers
So defeat after munched-limb defeat is ours
And when it’s hungry, it leaves not enough behind to fill a spoon

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 17, 2019