LesleyScoble.com

I wrote The Spinglyspukes Old Book in response to Sadje’s #Whatdoyou #340 photo prompt. The photo below is by Ahmet Yüksek@Unsplash.

I hope you enjoy my poem and song that it helped inspire.

The Spinglyspūks Old Book

There is a book upon a shelf
I know was written by an elf
hidden long ago
upon an upper row
in the library of a queen
in the palace of plasticine

Hidden in plain sight
among old books
a secret tale
of the spinglyspūks

The spinglyspūks are small and shy
with purple hats and pumpkin pie
they whisper spells
in crooked rhyme
and sleep in books
till half-past time

We must find it,
for it will tell
where there is a wishing well
to make sweet dreams
all come true.

But some say still
that none should look
inside the spinglyspūks old book
for those who read
the secret spell 
will soon begin to feel unwell

For once the spell begins to wake
the shadows start to shift and shake
and those who dare to read too far
may find they’re not quite who they are

Will you help me look 
for the spinglyspūk elf’s old book?


—Lesley Scoble, May 2026

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Audio — The Spinglyspūks Old Book — Song 🎶

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Enormous thanks to Sadje, for her inspirational #WDYS prompts.
Thanks to Ahmet Yüksek@Unsplash for his photography.
And my thanks to you, the reader, for spending this time with me.

What do you see # 340- 11 May, 2026