There was once a spider small He was only a quarter inch tall But what he lacked in height and strength He made up for with his confidence
He was quite an exceptional dancer A funny leg shaker, a cheerful prancer He had bright blue and red stripes on him This happy little spider called Sparklemuffin
Sparklemuffin was always showing off His marvellous dance skills to his lady loves And when he was being especially cute He’d wave his dancing legs all about
He’d wiggle and waggle his body around Sending love signals through the ground The girls would twitter upon their twigs As Sparkly performed his wonderful jigs
Then the ladies would all cheer and clap As he finally shook open his belly flap Performing his grand finale for them He’d mix salsa with some moon-walking
His show done, he’d climb up on the fence And bow and curtsy for his audience You’ll never see a more absurd drama king Than the rocking and rolling little sparklemuffin.
Dumbo was an octopus Who lived on the ocean floor He was the cutest little thing And had elephantine ears
But they were not really ears you see Just fins that flopped about He looked like Dumbo the elephant So that’s also the name he got
Dumbo the little cephalopod Was as lonely as can be He didnt mind the zero sunshine But how he wished for some company!
One day while nibbling on some snails Wondering what colour to wear that day He spied a stranger floating above Had another octopus come down to play?
He umbrella-drifted towards his new friend Blowing bubbles along the way He gaily waved his eight tentacles But the stranger kept floating away
Dumbo blinked and saw that he had Mistaken a bunch of old seaweed For a buddy who’d play fun games with him Diving, swimming and hide n seek.
He decided to wear [put your favorite color here] that day Changing the colour of his skin Dumbo knew that some day soon He would drift into his best friend.
Roller was a pangolin who lived in a Kapok tree He’d sleep all day snoring away and wake up at three Then he’d look up at the sky and see the sun still bright He’d roll back into a ball and sleep until the night
When the moon was overhead and the stars were twinkling too Roller would roll out of bed, thinking of his food He had no teeth to brush, so he’d just wash his little face Then he’d smile toothlessly and buff his keratinous scales
He’d venture out into the night, insects on his mind His all time favourite foods were crunchy ants and termites He’d use his long, long tongue to catch all his insect prey And since he had no teeth, he’d swallow them straightaway
Roller would have loved to sing but he could only hiss So once he’d eaten all he could, he’d hiss in total bliss He’d roam around the forest floor, sticking his tongue out Hissing at a Kapok tree and sometimes even a rock
This quirky looking animal puzzled many folks Some wondered if he was in fact a moving artichoke Others thought he looked like a pinecone with feet There were many theories about this funny beast
Then one day some poachers came to steal Roller away They wanted his lovely scales to sell on market day But Roller’s secret hollow tree wasn’t easily found So there he still lives today, blithely foraging around.
Better-Boy* was a tomato His head still had its stem He was always blushing red When someone spoke to him
His grandma held a record For having the most children She was in the Guinness Book And also on television
He wished he was more confident Like the olive oil and the rice But every time he tried to speak He’d get very tongue-tied.
He sat among the onions And the garlic on the counter They’d peel their layers in his face He’d cry at each encounter
How he wished he had some friends That smelled all nice and fruity Who wouldn’t tease him quite so much Making his soft insides all woozy
One day a man brought out a bowl Into which he placed some fruit Bananas, oranges and grapes And yippee! Better-Boy too.
He smiled at his new friends Blushing even redder Better-Boy was finally home With his fruity brothers and sisters
* Better Boy: A type of a tomato, the Better Boy has been in existence for more than 50 years and is a Guinness record holder for amount of fruit produced from a single plant.
Mahvash Mohtadullah - The Roaming Desi 