LesleyScoble.com

I wrote my poem, The Fairy who Lost his Hat, in response to Sadje’s #Whatdoyousee #281 photo prompt showing a small figure sitting on the railing of a bridge.

The Fairy who Lost his Hat

On a bridge that crossed a great river,
a small fairy sat,
He wore smart clothes
and in particular,
wore,
A jolly, jaunty hat.

The fairy sat still
All by himself,
content;
a solitary elf,
watching passers-by
in wonderment
at the world and the big blue sky.

People walked past in haste
While he just sat still…
They didn’t see him
doff his hat to them,
nor the gust of wind that snatched at will—
                                                  and stole it far away…
He watched it fly, and said, 
“Hey! Did you see that‽ 
O blast! It’s robbed my head of my hat.
I am astonished and aghast!”

“O wind, why seize my jaunty titfer?
Thou sneaky blustery thief, so sly!
O wily breeze—
Please tell me, please!
What did you do that fer?” 
  
O gusty breeze, why steal my hat?
Why take it while alone I sat,
alone and still,
gazing in wonderment
at the day.

O foul wind, do tell me—pray,
why show me such ill will,
    and take my hat away?
To steal it while alone I sat!
with people walking past in haste—
Unseeing on their way.

Now I sit without my hat,
My bald head bare beneath the sky.
Yet, I sit still, and still I stare,
in wonder as the world goes by
for why     I know not where 

The hatless fairy scratched his head, and said,
“Now the wind has took my hat,
I wish I had some hair...”

To feel long tresses flow
         in a gentle winsome blow…

I wonder where my hat is now.
Floating off downstream…
     or somewhere    flying high 
              spinning upward in the air ~


Lesley Scoble, March 2025

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NOTES
HOMLINS
The prompt’s photo shows a Homlin sculpture. An entire family of cute creatures called Homlins live in Kalingrad, Russia. The one depicted is Grandfather Karl, a figurine installed in 2018 at the Medovy Bridge, Kant island. To learn more about the Homlin sculptures please visit here

Titfer
In my poem, I use a Cockney colloquialism ‘Titfer’ (from the rhyming slang Tit for tat = Hat). Maybe the fairy has good old London connections or origins. Who knows? Perhaps, he’s not Russian after all?

THANKS
My thanks to Sadje, for her inspirational #WDYS prompts.
Prompt Image Credit: Image credit; Антон Воробьев @ Unsplash
My thanks to the creator of the sculptures Andrey Sledkov. (I hope he’s okay with my little sketch of Grandfather Karl and adding a hat)

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