Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet in Wonderland to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
The wizard's tower had a hundred stairs, and a cat that spoke in rhyme,
And an apprentice who was clumsy and who tripped on every climb.
He was told to sweep the study, and to feed the raven's beak,
But he opened a book of spells instead and began to peek.
He whispered a word of power to make the broom sweep faster,
And the broom began to multiply and made a great disaster.
There were brooms on every ceiling, there were brooms upon the floor,
There were brooms that danced the waltz right out the tower door.
The wizard came home laughing, for he'd once done the same,
And he showed the boy the counter-spell, and he did not place the blame.
He said, mistakes are teachers in a dusty, pointed hat,
And a wise one learns from every one, and grows a bit from that.
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Commentary
A young wizard’s helper does what every learner does at some point: tries something he was not ready for. The poem is a friendly reminder that mistakes can be good teachers.
The wizard’s tower has “a hundred stairs, and a cat that spoke in rhyme,” and “an apprentice who was clumsy.” Told to sweep the study, the apprentice opens “a book of spells instead.” He whispers “a word of power to make the broom sweep faster,” and “the broom began to multiply.”
Soon there are “brooms on every ceiling” and “brooms that danced the waltz right out the tower door.” The wizard returns “laughing, for he’d once done the same,” and shows the boy “the counter-spell.” He says, “mistakes are teachers in a dusty, pointed hat.”