Hear this tale of my adventure
When I journeyed years ago
I went off to find a dragon
And to slay him as my foe
He was dwelling in the heart
Of a black forest near my home
In a cave where molten lava churned
And everything around it burned
As I would too, I later learned,
Had I not taken care.

So, I set off, as I have said,
To quell the cause of so much dread,
A beast whose blood ran green not red,
My name would soon be set in stone.
Two great companions by my side,
Of temper true and mettle tried,
There was the Dane who came from royalty,
the German famed for loyalty,
in legends past, when molds were cast,
they both set courage solid as a stone.

The German could be stoic, always first to be heroic,
He had features that were chiseled and were cut.
The royal Dane liked to advance
With an auspicious blue blood’s prance,
And thus, the three of us paraded into town.
If either one had two left feet,
Or chewed his bones for love of meat,
Perhaps if either used a tree trunk as a louver,
I could forgive most any act,
Although we’d never made a pact,
It was as though we three as one would always move.

There was one day while on the road,
We came to meet a great king toad.
He would invite us to a banquet by his pond.
We cast our lines, and he ate flies.
We shared great tales and greater lies,
About strange lands we’d never been to and beyond.
Then as a crimson sun did wane,
And made the soft moonlight look plain,
We each took turns at keeping watch and dreaming dreams.
Until the night gave in to dawn,
We woke to find the toad was gone.
A prince of thieves, no king,
An emperor of schemes.

Now with a dragon still to slay
We journeyed on and made our way,
And by the afternoon we’d reached the forest edge.
A smell of sulfur filled the air.
We could retreat, but wouldn’t dare,
For in our hearts I think we knew
If each stayed steadfast, brave, and true,
We’d be the victors and emerge no worse for wear.
Before we entered that dark wood,
In our crusade of all things good,
I shared a moment with the German and the Dane.
The greatest men I’ve ever known
Were not worth one of them alone.
I’d suffer injuries for each and take their pain.

I think they knew, I know they did.
They were my dogs, I was their kid.
Three musketeers now all for one, and one for all.
And so, we stormed the dragon’s lair,
Each getting thistles in our hair,
And thus, we spent each summer day until the fall
When I was bound each day at school,
No dogs allowed, of course, the rule.
I don’t remember where those days of summer are,
The greatest friends I’ve ever known
Are now long gone and I am grown
I hope the day of our reunion isn’t far.

Perhaps that day we’ll take a trip.
I’ll be the skipper of the ship.
And with my mates, we’ll sail the seas to find that toad.
Or make a fort off in some meadowland,
We’ll roadie for some touring band.
We three were more than simply grand,
Amazing what a memory can be.