The Wiser Miser

In the corner all alone, on a dark rainy night,
The old miser squeezed his coins and smiled at their sight,
He had forsaken the world for this one small delight.

Then came the pounding of flesh on wood to his ear,
As he jumped from his daze with a heart full of fear,
He muttered a prayer to make the sound disappear.

But the pounding persisted like the wind and the rain.
He knew he must answer or it would drive him insane.
So he restored his gold coins to their cache once again.

To the door he did slither like a cat stalking prey.
His dry ancient lips whispered “Please go away!”
But the person outside simply would not obey.

With a touch of bravado he yelled “Who’s there?”
But only silence followed like a chill in the air.
With cold sweat on his forehead his heart thumped “Beware!”

It seemed like hours he stood with his hand on the door.
Then the pounding returned but not as loud as before.
The old man knew his poor brain could not take any more.

His hand shook and he trembled as each bolt he slid back.
With his foot as a door stop he produced just a crack,
And peered into the rain and the night cold and black.

There on the ground laid a young girl nearly dead,
Using his door mat for both blanket and bed.
As he watched she thumped the door with her head.

The miser was so moved and filled with relief
He forgot his gold coins and his life long belief,
That the problems of others should not be his grief.

He laid the poor girl on a rug by his fire,
Replacing her rags with a blanket much dryer
And into his heart crept a strange new desire.

He suddenly realized he was very old
And his life was just like his pieces of gold.
He was an old miser so hard and so cold.

Saving this girl gave him such a great pleasure,
A feeling of warmth and of joy hard to measure,
For he had finally found life’s greatest treasure.

So he raised the young girl to be a lady of style,
And when death finally came he passed with a smile,
For he had traded his gold for a treasure worthwhile.

By AFS