Percy Penguin (again)

9 of 12 in the ‘My very best’ series

I once knew a penguin called Percy
He was a good friend of mine
He lived in a hole in the garden
And came out when it was fine

When the sun shone bright in the sky overhead
He came out of his hole in the ground
And we’d chase each other in the garden
Around and around and around

I knew him for one whole summer
He was the best penguin I knew
He was kind, he was thoughtful and loving
In those months that I knew him so few

We had oh so much fun in the garden
And he once came inside for some tea
But stuffed so much fish in his tummy
There was none on the plate left for me

But as Winter’s cold fingers began calling
He came to me with a tear in his eye
And said he must soon now be going
It was the saddest ever goodbye

And so, on one Autumn morning
He left his hole in the ground
And with just a wave of his flipper
He left me without a sound

I cried for a week thereafter
I missed Percy Penguin so much
But although he’d be gone all winter
I knew he’s still keep in touch

In March he sent me a postcard
To see how I was getting on
He said he was looking forward to summer
I can’t wait for the summer to come

It’s now April and the Spring is upon us
I've cleared out Percy’s hole in the ground
For soon I shall be with my penguin
Chasing round and around and around

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[I first wrote ‘Percy Penguin‘ in 1987 when Emily Rose, our first, was born. It was first posted to Jemverse in May 2014]

 

The tree-monster’s tail

The tree-monster’s tail
stuck out of the ground
and though it was still
I made little sound
For there was no telling
and never a clue
what it would decide
and choose when to do
So erring on cautions
side I crept by
preferring instead
to let it sleep and lie
And the tree-monster’s tail
stayed still in the cold
as of course it long had
for many years told
But even though maybe
it was going nowhere
I didn’t tempt fate
as I passed by it there

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Snow and me

It wasn’t very nice
in my field this week you know
Cos my paws felt very cold
in some white stuff they call snow

I had a double layer
(my red jumper and a coat)
but my paws still feel the cold
(I’m just saying, make a note)

Of course I’d never let them know
Cos this place it is the best
as I can get to run around
for ages without rest

It’s muddy now and squelchy
but the paths I find are dry
and my humans never seem to mind
as I go running by

But this cold stuff takes the biscuit
and I’m not keen I’ll have you know
even though my humans
seem to really love the snow

©Jemverse

Photo – snow on ‘Obi’s field’ – Jempics

A sheep’s lot

A sheep looking chilly
there in the field
caught my eye when just passing
in the Sussex Weald

Forlorn it stood pleading
with a look it its eye
“Could it come with me?”
as I wandered by

Alas though much as
jocund company it
would no doubt have given
me there in a bit

I had to say ‘no’
as it would not be right
for a sheep to come walking
with me in plain sight

So I bade it farewell
said it had to be patient
sheep are meant to be there
and not bee complacent

at least not enough to
when perchance I should come
to pass by its field
with some promise of fun

But I smiled as I said this
and gave it a wave
which I’m sure it acknowledged
with the look that it gave

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

The Visitor II

We had a little visitor
who startled us last night
there behind the cupboard glass
perched and in plain sight
A little chap, brown and petite
his presence now declared
though how he found his way in there
was not something he shared

Suffice to say that Obi
our Jack Russell/Dachshund cross
was not exactly happy
at his being there because
he barked and barked and barked some more
with angry doggy words
“Get out of my house, you mouse
This really is absurd”

Later when we went to bed
we left the door ajar
hoping that the little chap
would leave and go afar
But this morning he’d decided
to find the waste bin in the hall
so he really hadn’t ventured
all that very far at all

As it happened though, convenient
for I took the bin and him
out the back into the garden
where I did some emptying
And as the contents scattered
on the ground out there I spied
the little chap escape and run
under the shed to hide

So the ending of this story is
I’m very pleased to say
a nice one as our visitor
following his stay
was able with a little help
to leave behind our house
for the continuing adventures of
a little brown house mouse

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

My Field

I have a field I go to
every Friday night
It’s mine to run around in
and there’s no-one else in sight
I’m also fairly certain
that no other dogs go there
I’ve certainly never seen one
and I don’t think they would dare

For this field it is my haven
and I love to run around
quite free in its three acres
on the chalky Sussex ground
And sometimes my two humans
will bring a little treat
which I will get get freely
by simply looking sweet

So I’m content to walk with them
when I have had a run
or have a sniff around the trees
it’s all part of the fun
My field it is a lovely place
and my humans they are great
for giving me the freedom
every Friday for a date

©Jemverse

Photo – Me (Obi Wan Kinobi) in my field – Jempics

The piggies on the hill

The free range pigs
up on the hill
honk a bit
as pigs they will
Yet strangely
in a little bit
you’ll find that
you are used to it
Just as well
as past first stile
their habitat
goes on for miles
And all up hill
the odour’s there
of which you are
most well aware
But you’ll forgive
the piggy stink
as they are lovely
in the pink
So as you pass
you’ll wave and say
that you’ll be back
another day

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Bee

A bumble bee came buzzing
in my garden for a while
he buzzed around the laurel tree
and paused to bring a smile

So I caught his brown and yellow
fluffy body in a pic
pausing there just long enough
but I needed to be quick

Before be buzzed away elsewhere
doing bee-like stuff
Fine by me as just one bee
is one bee quite enough

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Bumblebee

It’s peaceful here
my special place
the bright sunshine
warm in my face

Birdsong in the
trees around
The fresh mown grass
green on the ground

And just there
passing close to me
the buzz of a
big bumblebee

©Jemverse

Small dogs and the cold stuff

On the ground out the back
by the door in the snow
paw prints out there
with some evidence show
that although I’m uncertain
of the white stuff out there
I’ve been brave and I’ve ventured
outside for a dare
But I’m not out there long
‘Cos I’m still very small
and you feel the cold more
when you’re not very tall

©Jemverse