Spots
A leopard found a shepherd who was looking after lambs
The shepherd had some sandwiches with different flavour jams
The leopard feeling peckish thought he’d steal one tiny sheep
So he snuck behind the shepherd and that’s when he made his leap
But the shepherd he was wily and let out an evil laugh
As he whacked the leaping leopard in the belly with his staff
The shepherd said you’re never gonna snatch my flock from me
You might live longer if you just had sandwiches for tea
See, you stood out a mile with your dodgy spotty suit
You should have come in camouflage or dressed as something cute
So just this once I’ll let you go elsewhere to have your fun
But next time you come here I’m gonna get you with my gun.
So the leopard scratched his head and tried to figure what to do
He hatched a plan to wait till dark and sneak into the zoo
He sought out the chameleon who gets around unseen
For on the sand he’s kind of brown but in the trees he’s green
The leopard asked politely, Sir, how do you change your hue
And might there be a way that I might change my colour too
The colour changing lizard said a conjurer I ain’t
If we’re to change the tones of you we’re gonna need some paint
So, splashing paint around like it was going out of fashion
The lizard daubed the leopard with a fair amount of passion
He said I’ve made you ginger like the local mangy cat
With stripes to break your outline, that’s rather clever that
And so the stripy leopard that no longer sported spots
Sauntered past the shepherd not expecting any shots
The shepherd’s heart was pounding when he saw the stripy creature
Watch out lads, it seems we’ve got a tiger wants to eat ya
The shepherd raised his gun and felt his finger on the trigger
Could it be he asked himself, I’m gonna bag a tigger
And then it rained, it really poured, the paint was water based
The leopard tiger quickly had his colour scheme erased
The shepherd went all boggle eyed, you might say he was shocked
But still he had the foresight to ensure his gun was cocked
The shepherd aimed his gun which made him look a bit like Arnie
The leopard whimpered, honest guv, I came to scrounge a sarnie
The shepherd said you’re back to steal my lambs and that’s not nice
I told you if you did that you would pay a hefty price
He said of all the proverbs, and I reckon I've heard lots
It seems that one is true... “A leopard cannot change its spots”.
5 Feb 21 - Edited for length (original 10 May 19)
Contest: Fabled Musings
Sponsor: Joseph May
Copyright © Terry Flood | Year Posted 2019
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