She had wandered around for hours and hours
Till she was thoroughly lost amongst the enormous flowers
When the dragon flew overhead
She didn’t know where she was
Or how to get home
But she wasn’t worried.
The dragon knew where she was.
The cobra hatched a wicked egg
The dragon wished she’d done that too
They glared and then they fought for days
When they were done
The dragon had won
But no one stuck around to see
Except the happy little girl.
The Happy Little Girl met a snake.
She said, I’m pleased to meet you, and the snake said Oh for goodness sake!
Don’t you know I’m wicked?
Don’t you know I’ve got no friends?
Don’t you know that I’m cold blooded?
‘Cause I am.
Whoever’s pleased, I just don’t understand.
But the happy little girl just smiled
And kissed the snake
And rode away in style.
photo by Linda Tanner
Turkey vulture don’t eat turkey
Fly all day and don’t get thirsty
See his cousins all round circling
Come on down to see
Turkey vultures, bald as death
Got black feathers, got bad breath
When they gather for a feast
Happy as can be.
A camel laughing all night long
Will never be a beast of song
When morning rises from the sands
He sets away for foreign lands.
Ivory, ice and India ink,
Dirty water from the sink,
Ivy and an ibis feather.
Mix these things all up together
Put them in an iron pot.
With a few things I forgot
Then recite a magic spell
Of words that no one knows too well.
Stir it with a bunch of leeks
For a day and seven weeks
Until it starts to stink.
Then drink.
It might taste like a giant squid.
It might taste like an Irish stew.
It might make you invisible
Or it might turn you blue;
It might make you very, very tall.
It might turn you into nothing at all.
It might turn you into a banyan tree.
But if it does, please don’t blame me.
Oh, an Octopus is just the thing
When you’re out of string.
Yes, instead of a ball of twine
An Octopus works fine.
Last Christmas Eve I got a box
Done up in Octopus-knots.
It’s nicely tied — there’s even a bow.
But what’s inside? I still don’t know.
The Octopus
won’t
let
go.
Debbie drew a dancing dog
On the wall, in the hall
Debbie sang a magic song
To the air, on a dare
Then the dog danced off the wall
On the floor, through the door
It danced into the living room
Jitterbugged, on the rug
The dog danced up, the dog danced down
Here and there, on the chair
The dog danced with the plates and cups
With the ladle, on the table
The dog danced up to Debbie’s brother
But he cried, tried to hide
So the dog danced out the door
On the lawn, then was gone.
Sweet Potato Boy threw two bright pennies down the well, and then he went away. He did one thing and he came back; those pennies were still there. So he went away again, he did another thing, then another. He came back, and those two pennies were still there.
Sweet Potato Boy realized it would always be that way. He went off for a long time. When he came back, there were those pennies, still down inside the well. “I’m never coming back again!” he said. So he went away.
One day he came back after he had forgotten all about those two pennies. He looked down the well for a drink of water and he thought he saw two bright eyes looking up at him. “Are you looking at me?” he asked, but those eyes never said a word. Sweet Potato Boy jumped right down into the well, ready to talk or fight, but it was deep water and all he could do was spit air and climb back up. “All right,” he shouted down the well. “You tricked me, all right.” But those eyes still never said a word.
Sweet Potato Boy walked away, grinning and sneezing water. But whenever he goes by that well, he shouts out a Hello to whatever lives down there.
Bag of Anything 