Tales of the Wild Woods

Some Tales of the Wildwoods Oke Iroegbu Once upon a Time It was winter And a night of bitter cold The snow lay thick upon the ground And upon the branches of the trees Two Woodcutters made their way home And when they came to the Mountain She was hanging motionless in the air For the Ice King had kissed her So cold was it that evening That the animals and birds Knew not what to make of it ‘Ugh!’ snarled the Wolf As he limped through the brushwood With his tail between his legs ‘This is perfectly monstrous weather! Why doesn’t the Government look to it?’ ‘Weet, weet, weet! Twittered the crickets ‘The old Earth is dead And she is laid out in her white shroud’ ‘The Earth is going to be married And this is her bridal dress’ The Turtle doves whispered Their little pink feet were quite frost bitten But they felt it was their duty To say something romantic about the situation ‘Nonsense’ the Wolf growled ‘I tell you it is all the fault Of the Government And if you don’t believe me I shall eat you’ The wolf had a thoroughly practical mind ‘Well for my own part’ Said the philosophical Woodpecker I don’t care an atomic theory for explanations If a thing is so, it is so And at present it is terribly cold’