A little girl stood by the path
heart on a gilded platter
Many people walked on by
yet not one of them saw her
By and by a wolf came past
to have a little nibble
Away back to his house of glass
he ran to chew on kibble

And then a kindly granny came
and gave a gentle pat
Upon her heart and her head too
as if she were a cat
Soon after came a bearded huntsman
armed with axe and bow
He did not want that heart of hers
but took the plate of gold

Holding now her heart in hand
holed and flattened so
She wondered how and what to do
wherever could she go

Lo and behold, a little man
appeared on the horizon
Juggling more hearts in the air
as if they were his own
From his breast an ace of hearts
with which her heart he bought
Exchange so made, he then proclaimed
it was not what he sought

So he down along the path he went
toward a distant land
Leaving just the little girl
a paper heart in hand
Above her flew a raven bold
cawing all the while
“What a foolish trade you’ve made!”
He pecked and pierced the paper tile

The raven was then chased off by
a beggar with a cart
“That looks like you’d need it no more
a relic to discard.”
Replying with a tiny shake
of her head, she turned
And trudged back home, a day well spent
with something for to wait and yearn

Again tomorrow she will go to stand beside the
path
A paper heart without the gold was surely still an
art