The Forest Gnome

There’s a path beside the meadow across a shady glen
Where pine trees grow so tall and thick that sunlight can’t get in
It's down by Miller’s Crossing that's not too far from my home
And there within a hollow tree there lives a tiny gnome

He’s very hard to see my dear so if you want a peek
You must be very quiet, don’t even try to speak
He comes out in the evening to gather up toadstools
They grow down by a little brook where the crystal water pools

He stores them by the waters edge inside a hollow log
And if he catches you my sweet he’ll turn you into a frog
When he has gathered all he needs, he’ll put them in a pot
And cook them over a fire he’s built that blazes bright and hot

He’ll add in bits of starlight and a pinch of morning dew
It’s a recipe he learned to make that’s known as Fairy Stew
He eats up every drop of it and none will go to waste
I’d love to sneak up quietly and get a little taste

When he is finished eating, or so I have been told
He crawls into a hidden place to count all of his gold
It’s said he has all sorts of things he’s hidden out of sight
And no one has been able yet to find them in daylight

I think that I will follow him the next time he’s about
And see which way he goes along his secret hidden route
So if you’d like to come along to bring the gold back home
Just follow and we’ll watch to see the little forest gnome