Haggle with the Hag

by Oliver Loveday


 

This to haggle with

These words of honor that have been turned around

Hag

 

She was a hard working grandmother helping the people

Now she is an ugly old woman

How did she get that way?

 

She looks haggard

She is wild and intractable

Her face is worn and gaunt from working in the mystery all night

 

This to haggle with

This hag that would haggle with us

Who looks so haggard

 

Haggle is a word that means to cut into small pieces,

like one would do to a plant root to be used for medicine

Like one would do to a person's ego if it is a selfish one

 

Haggle means to be difficult to bargain with

It is hard to get your own selfish way when dealing with a hag

The hag that haggles sticks to even the small details

 

This hag that would chaffer

To peal off the chaff

To get down to the heart of the matter fast

 

This word: Hagiology

The branch of literature that records the lives and legends of saints

How did this ugly old woman become the root word for saints?

 

She was once a hard working Grandmother

She stayed awake all night doing her medicine

Now she is a useless and ugly old woman

 

Sometimes this world scares me

Ho!

 

Autumn Leaves

volume 8 number 2




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This poem is copyright © 6/2/95/2:20 pm EDT, Oliver Loveday, all rights reserved.
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