Tower on the Moor

In far off place and distant time

Did warming rays of gold light shine

On earth and leaf of grassy moor

Where old rain called up petrichor

’Tween river and deep sea’s embrace

Great arching tower of wood face

And torches bright with orange flame

A library’s figure proclaimed

Where weary minds and feet found rest

And hungry readers’ eyes were blessed

With stacks of shelves and quiet nooks

That teemed with mountains of old books

For these they quested far from home

Some to consult a magic tome

Or maybe ancient tales of dead

Perhaps the secret to good bread

Among the rafter’s bird’s eye view

One could perched see the tall corkscrew

And watch the bustling visitors

Close, open and pass through oak doors

To access volumes leather bound

Did that great staircase spiral round

It twisted up and down again

To airy spire and deep dark den

One not secured by lock or key

For every title there was free

All written truths were on display

To be enjoyed through night and day

Old myth and fact on heaven’s grace

Deep secrets hid in that grand place

‘Mong reams of childrens’ painted scribbles

All these belonged to old wise Nibbles

This Nibbles, guests would speculate

Kept to himself to concentrate

They did not know or failed to see

The true form of this addressee

Since teacher, bookworm, study too

Could truly not be sure just who

He was he came and went as pleased

To rub his chin upon their knees

Mentees ignored his trotting round

The tower’s dorms and maintained grounds

His spritely hunting of white rabbits

And lengthy, lazy sleeping habits

In fact they paid no mind at all

To that cat’s slumber in the hall

Yes, whiskers white and coat of gray

Adorned the master of their stay

Curled up in lap he sometimes read

Whilst getting pet upon his head

Rare times at their fingers he nipped

One man’s notes were freshly ripped

But for their respite so secure

In his great tower on the moor

Did Nibbles have but one lone rule

Books mustn’t cross the vestibule

These writings he would share with all

Should never leave his reading hall

To take a book twas leant not sold

Was certainly a crime of old

In the dark nightfall wreathed in black

Dared bands of bandits to attack

With quiet, skulking thieves to take

His tomes but not for learning’s sake

Whilst raiders leered and lurked about

The cat’s sharp claws did protrude out

Those not asleep up high in dorm

Saw Nibbles in his lion form

Great razors grew from small cat claws

To befit shaggy mane and paws

So massive, gray, and outraged he

Defended his vast library

He crept and stalked the thieves of night

Who wished that they had died of fright

Instead he rent them flesh from bone

And purged their bodies from his home

When twilight waned and dawn arose

Would Nibbles yawn and twitch his nose

Exhausted from his dim campaign

And he became tomcat again

So beast of claw and sharpened tooth

Curled up again on window booth

No reader ever was the wiser

They just presumed him a late riser

And thus the tomcat of the halls

Did keep his books to share with all

For questers coming to and fro

To seek the orange torchlight glow

Not once would they raise the alarm

While on his watch they saw no harm

Don’t try to ask to them; they won’t say

They minded not the cat of gray

Birds and rats and rabbits too

Know Nibbles more than humans do

And keep his secret without doubt

They do not dare to rat him out

Should journey you in place and time

Heed this bird’s warning of short rhyme

Ye burglars had just best beware

The fat old cat with the gray hair

Who slinks among his books and purrs

But after dark he grows and stirs

There’s no place for wayward crooks

Among the stacks of Nibbles’ books