Friars

A long time ago in the land of the shire

There by the the water, and under the wires

In a bright but quite small little corner in St. Ayers

There was a small house that was shared by 3 friars

Together they lived their fastidious lives

None had possessions and none had a wife

They lived and they prayed and continued to thrive

As they all made quite sure that no warmth was deprived

One day the 3 friars decided to try

To cook their own food and not eat it all dry

The thought of baked bread did give them a sigh

But when push came to shove they decided to fry

So the friars took fry pants up onto the stove

The furrowed and furtive faces they strove

The menu was impeccable - daring and bold

The best food could be imagined by young or by old

The people of Ayers were alight

Because surely the friars when they were finished, they might

Share some of their dishes of delicious delight

And then all would be merry and all would be right

And the people arrived at a quarter past noon

To be first in line so to enter the Friars room

Everyone stood in line with their hand on their spoon

And they waited and waited for what would come soon

Hours they past and the noon turned to night

The air became colder and folks held themselves tight

But the people in line still held hope that they might

Get to take a bite of the friars' delicious delight

And as night turned to dawn with the rise of the sun

The people in line chanced to happen upon

The friars alive in the kitchen in their aprons

And they said to themselves food is surely anon!

And as dawn turned to days and the days into weeks

The people in line - well they'd gotten quite weak

Some of them had even forgotten how to speak

As the weeks turned to months the whole scene had grown bleak

And then suddenly quite loudly the door swung full out

And people in line well they let out a shout

There were sausages with mushrooms and sour kraut

There was immaculately cooked river trout

There on the table a mountain of green sprouts

There was so much food their that folks - they passed out!

Never to recover and never they would

But boy to have seen all that food - it was good!

Now they lie in boxes of brown sandalwood

Buried beneath the ground with their food