epic tale
To tell the story of the battle of AJ the Brave and Axel the Great
You must first get to know the Queen of In Between
Before these Princes arrived on the scene
She was an explorer and the world she had seen
Climbing mountains, glaciers and peaks
She was ambitious with skills and technique
Her drive is still alive
Even after her princes arrived
And no stranger to danger
With certainty, she knows
This was the life she chose
Perhaps a different wife in another life
The one here and now is of
Climbing on ice
Calculated rolling of dice
And things well known to sacrifice
She reminds herself, she is not her work
She is not a machine
But some days are lonely for even a Queen
When the King is out traveling
No device can suffice
And no kisses replace all that she misses
There is a never ending game that the princes keep playing
That includes dragon slaying
And a variety of tactics for bedtime delaying.
The Queen’s sons believe it is a game to be won
Arch rivals in a game of survival
Which everyone will eventually lose
Because in the end sleep is hard to refuse
For AJ the Brave and Axel the Great
Sleep is not welcome and surely must wait
While in this state
Where no one will cooperates
Remaining enemies is preferred to becoming mates
For AJ the Brave and all the gifts that he gave
He will not give in
It’s the Queen he must save
For Axel the Great
With his drive to create
He will not give in
Not ever before 8:00
Seeking to build and not destroy
Axel the Great is filled with joy
But that joy will be killed
by AJ the strong willed
And because the strong
Hate so much to be wrong
They all fight to stay awake
When pride is at stake
No one can settle the score
Of this hopeless sleep war
In which the queen does not wish to partake
Her feelings about it, she just cannot fake
Axel tells of the 15 dragons he’s slain
In hopes of great glory to gain
And he looks like a charmer
In his suit and shining armor
Anticipating to blow away his mother as he begins to explain
The whole ordeal, all the courage, and the pain
Not just dragons but monsters and a very large beast
There were 35 of them he insists, at least!
All with sharp teeth and fiery breath
That he single handedly defeated to death
All for peace in the East
And an exotic celebration feast
But AJ the Brave made sure
His valiant efforts were not to ignore
The castles he built were not made of sand
And the planes he landed with only one hand
A palace for the queen she would surely adore
And his skill in flying her to new places to explore
Axel played again to steal AJs thunder
The queen trying to show both Princes her joy and wonder
This time Axel brings her a ruby ring
Sparkling jewels are such beautiful things
But the queen has no interest in such a treasure
Shiny things never bring her much pleasure
She instead asks Axel for a song he could sing
Something to remind her of her absent King
The competition continues between the 2 brothers
Each one trying to outdo the other
All for the sake of staying awake and impressing their mother
The second born child
Took the Queen’s hand and smiled
My biceps are stronger
And I can hold my breath longer
All these muscles I’m gaining
As a result of all my hard training
But with first born standing at the door
Pointing to all the toys on the floor
And then with a roar
He says “Clean up your room
Or this means war!”
AJ while still in the groove
Carefully plans his next move
Speaking to fish is one of his secret powers
Although he insists he has plenty of gifts to give and shower
Taking the Queen for a deep dive with him for some magical hours
Would surely be sweet and not sour
Then Axel chimes in just to say
“Why would you dive if you could fly a stingray?”
“But No Axel”, AJ responds, “not today.”
His rocket departs for the moon a few minutes past noon
Which is not too soon
Who would want to delay?
The Queen replies, my dear dragon slayers, players, pilots and fishes
Let me tell you more about my wishes
It’s late and I’m getting too tired to do dishes
Lay down your weapons, spaceships and swords
At this hour your rich imagination receives no rewards
Let me be clear
My sons, my dears
Let us unite and abandon this fight
If we could just get some sleep tonight
Do you think we might?
Sweet dreams. Goodnight
Tomorrow we will find
In our castle to unwind
No reason to fight
Share Turkish Delight
No need for rings or shiny things
For tomorrow will bring home our King
So take a pause from your cause
Don’t compare or compete
No gifts needed to give and no one to defeat
The Queen has enough love for both of her sons
No stories of glory or battles need to be won
To all of you Princes not just the Greats and the Braves
It is our planet we really must save
Not just the Queens of In Betweens
That would like to stay human and not become machines
As you grow older
Carrying the weight of your world on your shoulders
With your ideas clever and bolder
For inventions to keep the Earth colder
The Queen knows all of this even before I told her
With so much to be seen
To explore this world with your Queen
Put away your screen
Not all things are optimized or enhanced by machine
She wants to join you for glaciers and skiing
And show you how hard it is to raise a good human being
In time, you might find yourself agreeing
Not all precious things should be bought or sold
Just another reason for this story I’ve told
It’s hard to tell
These things that do sell
Our attention and soul
That was never our goal
And the calculated cost
for what humanity has lost
Or the real prices
Of all our devices
If I still have your attention
Let me just mention
This deal that we are all getting
Tech companies profiting and betting
Is it something we should really be letting?
While our planet has people and places needing
And so much to do to control all the bleeding
Make sure these devices in constant connection
Are not allowed to dry up human affection
Be kind to the Earth and all others
Not just your own sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers
My dear Princes
These last few words are important and true
Whatever you do and whatever you may achieve
Your queen will always love you
For who you are and what you believe