The Dance Of The Crow And The Frog
The crow crowed to see such fun
A glint in his eye that may have been the sun
He laughed in derision at the frog at his feet
“You’re nought but bones and thin stringy meat!”
The frog looked up to regard the crow with large bulbous eyes
“That’s as maybe but I can swim as well as you can fly”
The crow cackled madly thinking this frog such a fool
The frog blinked once and said “I challenge you to a duel”
The crow cocked his head and narrowed his beady eyes
“You can’t hope to swim as fast as this crow can fly!”
The frog stood his ground and gave the crow a crafty glance
“I don’t mean to have a race; I mean to beat you at dance!”
The crow rolled around all laughter and guffaws
As the frog cleared the ground for a makeshift dancefloor
“What a silly little contest I shall beat you so simply!”
The frog just said nothing, looking at his feet so green and pimply
“A-one, and a-two...” and off danced the frog
Skipping majestically through leaves and over a log
The crow watched astonished at the pivots and turns
As the graceful little frog pirouetted amongst the ferns
“I can do that,” said the crow, “Now you just watch”
As he fluffed out his feathers and skipped like hopscotch
The frog came to a standstill and looked at the crow
“You’re not really so good, I thought you should know”
The crow got angry and danced all the faster
Leaving the ground as he got all in a lather
“See how high I can jump, I’m better than you!”
As his wings bore him aloft with a flutter or two
Frog shook his head “No that’s not it at all!”
“You’ve got to go higher, over that garden wall!”
And crow jumped with a flap clearing the stones
Tucking his wings in he fell suddenly with a breaking of bones
“You tricked me!” he moaned, as he lay in a heap
“The wall was too high and the fall was too steep!”
Frog hopped down beside him, the distance no bother
“Well you should think twice before you’re rude to another”
And so at last we come to the moral of our tale
Be kind to one another and you can’t ever fail
Celebrate your differences and encourage others to try
Because it doesn’t really matter if you swim or if you fly
(c) Copyright James Batty 2011
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