LXXIII: Storybook Villain

In every story that I can recall,

the villain is a varied kind of thing,

but one who takes from all, both great and small,

for naught but what his own ambitions bring.

He might be ruler, vagabond, or free,

he might be broken, whole, or something worse,

but greed is that which you can clearly see

which makes him worthy of the moral’s curse.

I thought, as I grew old, those stories stayed.

I thought we all remembered what they said.

We’d see that villain clearly if he made

his way onto our stage, or to our head.

How is it that we don’t? Or is it me?

Is that not what the stories meant to be?