Poetry | Ballad

The Making of a Villain

A ballad of inherited war

Image created by the author with Bing Image Creator

Not a member? Read here.

Grandfather stood upon the riverbank and looked across at coveted land. He walked back home to the hearth and shaped a tale with expert hand.

“Old man Vargas is an evil sort. His wife he never truly loved. Upon her death he found another His dark intentions at last ungloved.

So understand this, sons of mine, his lust and greed know no bound. He’ll cross that river soon enough and make our home his battleground.”

Father listened. Uncle too. And for their sister, held so dear, they trembled at the tale he’d spun. They could not let that Vargas near.

Vargas walked upon his planted field and found it plagued in dismal drought. He then approached the river’s edge contemplating the water’s route.

Grandfather pointed at the man as he scanned the distant shore. “He must be planning an attack. He wants nothing more than war.”

The Vargas family multiplied in children and in progress too. They toiled hard and worked their land, contented from their point of view.

For years and years the brothers saw the tactics used by Vargas men. Innocence was their constant claim; they feigned it time and time again.

To each other they moaned and groaned. They spit and spat and spoke of spite. They stayed up late with bitter tongues, backbiting through the endless night.

And here we are, we at last, my brothers and cousins in the fight. The Vargas family we know so well. We know for fact they just ain’t right.

They want our land. They want our girls. But we won’t let them have ’em. To the end, we defend what’s ours, no matter the degree of mayhem.

So late at night we make a plan, and before they’ve time to muster, my brothers, and cousins stand with me to rain down on them with luster.

The Vargas clan is no more; we wiped them from the state. No longer will they slink around nor have the chance to migrate.

Despite the rumors that they were fair, we authored all the history books. Read the pages and you’ll see: Vargas was just a bunch of crooks.