Fantasy Poem "The Parley of Elf and Troll"

Here's another poem from my now out-of-print speculative poetry collection that was never previously published in a zine or anthology, but it has been previously shared online — my fantasy piece "The Parley of Elf and Troll". 
Strangely enough, the background art by yours truly, "Elf and Troll", DID see publication, on the cover of the July 2011 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly.

The Parley of Elf and Troll

By Richard H. Fay

During an uneasy parley
Following the briefest of lulls
In their constant fighting,
Elf and troll meet
Atop a speckled toadstool
'Neath the gnarled oak tree.

Instead of reaching an agreement
To heal past grievances,
The two argue and cuss
Over who should be cross at whom.
Each blames the other
For such bitterness and strife.
Elf calls troll ugly and sour;
Troll calls elf cutesy and trite.
They insult each other's mothers,
Divergent tastes in fashion,
And even inherent talents,
Or lack thereof.

The troubled truce finally shatters
When harsh words lead to hard blows.
Troll clobbers elf,
But the coming dawn
Turns troll to stone.
Elf slinks down
Into the shadows
With the rest of his twilight kin.

Fuelled by renewed misunderstanding,
Their endless fray goes on.
Nothing seems to stop
That infernal
Eternal war.