Terry, the Wolf (A Ballad of Regret)
Upon a stump of timber dead, beneath the moon’s pale leer,
Sat Terry, weakest wolf of all, alone, consumed by fear.
The forest sighed a ghostly hymn, the night was damp and still,
As Terry drew a breath of rue atop the shadowed hill.
No longer could he trace the path where once his paws had strayed,
No torch, no star, no hunter’s mark, just echoes that betrayed.
A wolf not born to hunt or lead, nor howl with strength or pride,
But one who'd scrape for strangers’ crumbs with hollowed soul inside.
Oh shame! The coming years would bring indignity and pain,
A burden borne in solitude, a legacy of shame.
While others thrived on instinct bold, and chased the northern flame,
Poor Terry begged from fleeting folk who scarcely knew his name.
They'd pass him by with softened eyes, with charity and cheer,
Unknowing of the soul they touched — nor what lay buried here.
A smile, a note, a helping hand, a bill gripped kind and tight,
And Terry’d nod, though deep within, another spark took flight.
He typed beneath fluorescent glare, his pate both bald and bowed,
While strangers mused, with pity glossed, above the chattering crowd.
"Who is this beast?" they’d gently ask, then vanish through the door,
And Terry’d know — they’d not return, nor think of him once more.
His art, a sheet of A4 white — a tombstone for his cries,
Each page a ghost, each line a wound, beneath indifferent skies.
No laurels crowned his weary brow, no muse to guide his hand,
But only postures, hollow boasts, misunderstood and bland.
He'd once bewitched a paltry few on forums dim and lost,
Where fevered minds mistook his ache for wisdom tempest-tossed.
A prophet to a dozen fools — to elders, just a jest,
Who watched with smug and softened smiles, his antics like the rest.
He was a Withnail, gazed upon through glasses tinged with rue,
A Gazza drunk on memory’s lies, whose promise never grew.
All intellect, all youthful fire, now ashes in the rain —
A tragic beast who wandered far, and found his fate in vain.
So mourn for Terry, if you will, who howls to empty skies,
A creature cast in shadow's mold, with too much truth — and lies.
Not evil, no — nor truly mad — just haunted, lost, and dim,
A wolf who once believed in more, but time believed not in him.