{"id":4476,"date":"2019-03-30T01:05:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T01:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=4476"},"modified":"2019-03-30T01:17:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-30T01:17:30","slug":"witch-wendy-of-the-wood-and-grainne-of-the-geis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/witch-wendy-of-the-wood-and-grainne-of-the-geis\/","title":{"rendered":"Witch Wendy of the Wood and Grainne of the Geis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trees<\/a>
Trees near the entrance of the Forest of Witch Wendy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Witch Wendy lived in the darkened wood
\nHid from humanity whenever she could
\nRefused an honest living for to make
\nCame out at night her needs to take
\nFrom the poor, who found when counting stock
\nThey had next morning less sheep in the flock
\nOr calves or colts, or even hogs
\nWitch Wendy, as a hare, bounded over the bog.<\/p>\n

One year, the frost and snow stayed long
\nThe rain poured down, all weather wrong
\nThe seeds refused their heads to show
\nThose that did poorly did grow
\nThe forest still had its fungi and fruit
\nBut Witch Wendy preferred her traditional route
\nThere is to thrill unless you steal
\nMore alive it made her, she said, feel…<\/p>\n

That year she took more than her need
\nFor the thrill of taking,she took from greed
\nBy funerals of the village dead she was awed
\nAs hunger at the survivors gnawed
\nA widow with her dying breath
\nVowed her kind would get even yet
\nWhispers “a girl upon a distant dawn
\nShall avenge my death, she not yet born”<\/p>\n

With Wendy went her merry way
\nCasting spells, driving the woods walkers away
\nSome said at night upon a stick
\nShe flew when the air with bats and midges was thick
\nBut more said she just chanted incantations
\nBeing too inhuman to know lamentations
\nMore crazy then evil, best avoided
\nAs best they could that’s what most did.<\/p>\n

But then in time the summers were better
\nThe days were dryer, the nights were wetter
\nWork meant the villagers did not depend on their crop
\nFear of hunger and of witches did stop
\nShe even was bold enough to chance
\nTo come to the festivals to dance
\nBut trouble brewed when folk went to pray
\nThey would not do the worship her way<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e1inne was known as “The Fair”
\nA child as good as any there
\nIn any village around folk could find
\nIndustrious, intelligent and kind.
\nShe knew of a family prophecy
\nIt would be her would bring down Witch Wendy
\nWitch Wendy thought it funny, this weak child who did smile
\nForgot the weak have strength in guile.<\/p>\n

“I have a herb garden you’d love to see
\nWhen your in the woods, come to see me”
\nWitch Wendy said to the child one day
\nWhen to the darkened woods too close did stray
\nBut it was for Gr\u00e1inne no mistake
\nShe hatched a plan she over time did make
\nMade Witch Wendy in her own downfall a tool
\nThe clever child played the role of the fool.<\/p>\n

Witch Wendy had a favourite cat
\nWhich on the windowsill was sat
\nIts favourite spot, the world it spies
\nWith demonic glowing eyes…
\nBut cats know fear, Gr\u00e1inne knew cats
\nShe beside the witches pet she sat
\nSat up startled, her coat violently did shake
\nSlithered out a bright green slithering snake!<\/p>\n

Witch Wendy blessed herself: “St Patrick failed”
\nShe exclaimed, echoing the tale regaled
\nBy clergy when the witch was young
\nBut like Gr\u00e1inne and spoke with the tongue
\nNow lost to most, centuries ago
\nFor not many did they ever know
\nWendy did not age since the cauldron she stirred
\nWith newt, and boot, and toad and bird…<\/p>\n

The cat ran out: the witch bereft
\nSaid I cannot stay when from him cleft
\nBut through the woods I cannot go
\nUnless I have him behind in tow
\nWorst of all, I cant grace the sky
\nIts his magic power makes my stick fly
\nSwiftly Gr\u00e1inne the snake into the cauldron flung
\nWhich bubbling over the fire hung…<\/p>\n

The witch never knew that the snake
\nWas far from real, but a clever fake
\nShe now was by Geis in her home jailed
\nSo goes the tale the locals regaled
\nThe widows granddaughter without drawing blood
\nAchieved what all the clergy never could
\nWendy could not leave, she could not stay:
\nAll because a child scared her cat away…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part fairytale, part parody of Teresa May \/ Brexit, a poem for children about Witch Wendy who could neither stay or go without breaching geis, being mastered by Gr\u00e1inne, a simple village girl, whose birth was foretold in curse of her dying grandmother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4190],"tags":[2921,2939,4192,544,4193,4191],"class_list":["post-4476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brexit","tag-brexit","tag-childs-story","tag-geis","tag-moral-2","tag-poem-on-brexit","tag-political-satire","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-1ac","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5028,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/when-the-devil-was-beat-by-duffy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4476,"position":0},"title":"When The Devil Was Beat by Duffy","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"13th August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A common folk story in Europe, in North Longford it was attributed to a local blacksmith as the hero of the tale, recorded in @duchas_ie. Who was Jack Duffy? I dont know. Its a noteworthy retelling in that is shows a local application of a legend to make a story\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ireland"","block_context":{"text":"Ireland","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Blacksmith and the Devil is a common folk story in Europe, in North Longford it was attributed to a local blacksmith as the hero of the tale.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The_Blackmith_and_the_Devil.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1417,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/raining-cats-at-halloween\/","url_meta":{"origin":4476,"position":1},"title":"Raining Cats at Halloween","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"1st November 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Its raining cats and dogs, I thought to myself, As I walked down in the rain... 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