The 99 Poem Challenge (Fox-Trot-9) ✓

17. Ballad -- The Bunny Man

The 99 Poem Challenge
Fox-Trot-9

17. Ballad — The Bunny Man

1

Beware the bunny man, my dears,
   Beware his clever ruse,
Beware the man of all our fears
   We hear upon the news. 

Because I fear for all of you
   Who dare to go at night,
Because I fear and often rue
   The day he took his flight. 

The two eloping teens had lost
   Their way into the wood,
Because their car had broken down
   With smoke inside the hood.

And so they walked until they found
   Somebody's cabin light
Within the windows' curtained round,
   To them a blesséd sight. 

They crept and ventured with a knock,
   And once the door had oped, *
They asked the woodsman for his help
   And hoped and hoped and hoped. 

The man acquiesced and took them in
   And bade them, "Sit and eat.
I want to know what happened, so
   I'll get you on your feet." 

The girl could only blush in shame
   T' explain the reason why
They came into the woods so late;
   The boy said with a lie, 

"We got a flat a couple miles
   Away from here, that's all;
We need your help to have it fixed
   Or give someone a call." 

The woodsman looked at both of them
   And found the teens sincere,
Agreeing to be of some help,
   Then said, just to be clear, 

"You two should count yourselves in luck
   To find me over here,
Because these woods are dangerous,
   More so than they appear.

"There was a prison complex here
   In nineteen-seventy,
When Fairfax County was a small
   But cozy place to be.

"But all that changed when it was closed
   To make the place 'secure',
When every inmate there was moved
   T' another place of cure. 

"The transfer of the inmates went
   Along without a hitch,
Until the transfer bus had crashed
   Into a hidden ditch. 

"Some inmates died upon the hit
   That crumpled up the bus,
But others fled into the night
   And caused a lot of fuss. 

"And off they ran with all the speed
   Their legs could strain to bear,
But one by one they all were caught,
   Save one to our despair.

"The parties searched throughout the woods
   But could not find their man,
And pretty soon they all gave up,
   Abandoning their plan.

"Within the passing days emerged
   So many carcasses
Of eaten rabbits locals found
   That caused them much distress. 

"The rabbit carcasses were found
   A-hanging from the trees,
Like ghastly Christmas ornaments
   A-swinging in the breeze! 

"And so another search was called
   To find their missing guy
And found to their astonishment
   A person's corpse—oh my! 

"What's worse, his mutilated corpse
   Was hanging from the tree,
A ghastly Christmas ornament
   A-swinging by his knee! 

"Authorities redoubled all
   Their efforts to arrest
The man they dubbed the 'bunny man'
   And put the case to rest. 

"Their searching found his hiding place,
   A simple lodge that stored
A bunny suit with rabbit ears
   And rabbit corpses gored.

"But they could never find the fiend
   That carried out these deeds
And so were forced to give it up,
   Until they got more leads.