He lives in a hollow tree near a stream

in the green hills in the North of Ireland

 in the Province of Ulster and county of Down

  overlooking Banbridge

 a stone’s throw from Old Manse Road

His clothes are tattered and his belongings

 consist only of a hat and pipe and emerald colored shoes

with tassels that dance in the wind

as he prances through the green

pastures in search of mystical herbs

He stands but three foot tall

 but doesn’t seem to notice his demure size

and the fact that the tall grass rises above his shoulders

 so that he must occasionally leap upward to see his path

and in so doing dislodges the green hat from his head

He has mischievous eyes and a smile

 made up of snow white teeth that gleam brightly

 when he repositions the pipe in his elf like mouth

so that he might exhale a magic puff of smoke

that will make him invisible to the human eye

He travels deep into the forest

working his way toward the hiding place of

one of the many gold stashes that he protects

 from those that would steal his gold

for their own selfish benefit.

He smiles a wry smile and readjusts

 his hat tilting it slightly to the left

so that he might better view the

dense thickets to his right where

the pixies sometimes hide

He stops to rest and takes a swig

from the dusty bottle in his pack

containing an elixir of his own making

that bestows unusual powers

on those of his kind.   

He reaches his destination and

finds the gold as he left it

leaving him now with tired eyes

that soon close as he slumbers

and brings forth dreams of home-made

 Irish bread pudding and wild gooseberry tarts.

©Copyright Charlie Gragg 2009