A mere drop of honey

A Villager opened a shop in his town
Offered fine goods that could be bargained down
After some days from a nearby village
With staff in his hand and dog of old age
An uncivil shepherd entered the stage

“Good day shopkeeper, have you sweet honey?
Please give me some for a little money.”
“I have good honey my brother sheep man
Give me your clay pot or deep roaster pan.”

“Choose the kind of honey you desire
I’ll fill your container as you require.”
With honey-like words and seeming affection
They did business with peaceful connection

Shopkeeper poured the best honey of the store
By dark fate, a stray drop fell on the floor
Zzzzz, zzzz buzzed a fly that came from on high
Sat on the drop that the cat did espy

So Stealthily sly approached the shop cat
Gave swat with its paw as if for a rat
Alarmed by the mean cat’s ferocious poach
The shepherd’s dog set forth fast to approach

With a huff and puff that blew from its snout
Dog was ready for a serious bout
Ire unbound, he jumped on the feline’s back
Pinned her down, bite her neck til she went slack

“My dear cat choked to death by the rogue dog,
Who should die now and become a dead log.”
Shopkeeper incensed grabbed a hard broom stick
Swung it with deadly force as if a brick
The dog fell limp, his death was sure and quick

“Oh my dear dog, I depend on you much
You guard my sheep, my home, pastures and such
May you be damned you bad storekeeper man
No conscience, shameless, bent on an evil plan.

So you have bludgeoned my dog to quick death
Now you will feel the blunt force of my staff.”
The shepherd man cried loud in a grave voice
Staff raised to inflict his violent choice

With deadly aim he delivered blunt pain
On the grey crown of the storekeeper’s brain
“Murder, murder a foolish senseless crime
Help, come quick!”, throughout the town was the chime

From street to street, house to house all cried
From one to many the message was plied
Murder, murder, help there is no excuse
This murderer must be put to the noose

One and all came fast from far off places
From homes, work, with anger on their faces
Mothers, brothers, uncles, kin and aunties
They ran through the streets, brave vigilantes

Running and crying and screaming aloud
Everyone in town came forth, formed a crowd
That swelled in numbers, passion and fierce force
Each stirred others to rage without remorse

“You stupid bear, hey, you beast-like savage
Does a civilized man do such ravage?
Didn’t you come here to purchase some goods
Yet downed our man like a deer in backwoods.”

One spoke thus, many struck the sheepherder
Who was put down as revenge for murder
He lay on the ground his blood hot and red
Next to the dog he loved, he joined the dead

“Hey, fetch the body of this cruel fool
Back to his village to rot in his stool.”
The dead man’s family brought home their dear one
And enraged, called to arms father and son

Our villager has brutally been slain
Bludgeoned to death by our neighbors’ insane
Caught in a trap like an unwitting prey
Tit for tat we will get revenge today

The neighboring village was called to arm
Bent on slaughter each grabbed weapons of harm
One a gun, another sword or spade
Skewer, ax, hoe, knife, dead set on crusade

Mounted on horses or marching on foot
The rabble set forth to carnage and loot
That wicked village of devils and fiends
Without scruples, morals, their hearts unclean

For a mere purchase they gather a horde
To dispatch our loved one with staff and sword
We’ll destroy your village and every man
Desecrate women’s honor if we can

Forward, brave Justicers, we’ll right the wrong
Burn their homes, massacre, attack their throng
They cursed and blasphemed, cried out loud
Marched forward to battle angry and proud

Mercy, compassion, true friendship and all
Were forsaken in the terrible brawl
Aggression, attack, fire and bomb blast
As ruin and flame rose, more fury unlashed

They were bent on slaughter more and more
Til the ground was littered with flesh and gore
The irony of two neighboring towns
Was each belonged to a different Crown

One sovereign king when hearing the above
Made a solemn vow and decree thereof
“May it be declared in our ancestral land
From hill to dale, for all that I command

Our neighboring race fond of perfidy
Wickedly cruel, prone to iniquity
When we were serenely reclined asleep
Armed, they entered our land without a peep

Murdered and despoiled with extreme cruelty
Our innocent children without sympathy
Now our sons so dear, I summon to arms
From your villages, towns and verdant farms

Without elan, not really wanting such fight
I order to action our army of might
To destroy all those who have harmed us such
That caused our mothers and daughters grief much

Bravely battle, destroy our enemy
God favors us, not our adversary
Justice merits our retaliation,
Attack them now without hesitation

The neighboring king made his plea to arms
To his army and people with word charms

“In the presence of my subjects and God
I condemn our neighbor’s deeds vile and odd
Immoral, pure evil, treacherous ruse
Stomping the law, they impugn and abuse
Our people with false words and arguments
Expert in lies, pretense and pompous rants
Destroyed our trust, put our treaty to bust

Now we are reluctantly pushed to the brink
Of downward spiral, tit for tat we’ll sink
For the love of honor, justice supreme
Cherishing the spilled blond of loved ones esteemed
For the love of freedom, country and life
Our love for God, his glory, mercy rife
Our voices will rise, our will shall prevail
With our raised swords wreak death, thunder and hail!”

The horrible din of battle began
Metal on metal, frightened citizens ran
Fire burst out home to home in the town
Blood, destruction, screaming cries all around

On every side frightened faces, stark death
The stench of dead bodies choking the breath
Summer to winter many years of strife
Farmers paralyzed, the fields without life

Before the war could be brought to a halt
Famine and starvation the people stalked
What was once a prosperous country
Became deserted, home to misery

The people that could not leave asked dismayed
Feeling abandoned, horrified and betrayed
“What was the cause of this horrible plight
That destroyed our nation, our honor, our might?”