YOB: A Short Break From Adventures

By Beth

I am taking a break this week from the usual telling about a recent Year of the Birthday adventure. I do hope you will forgive me. It's just...well...it's been one of those weeks here in good ol' PA. Work stuff, home stuff and my back hurts so much that I've already had to take a break from this entry. Plus, I just didn't feel the creativity flowing enough to write about a cave. I want to do the story justice and I feel I just can't this week. So, here is something I wrote last week which some of you may have seen on my Facebook page.

Lara called me Wednesday night after hitting a deer on her way home. We talked for a bit, she was concerned it wasn't dead. I hope I made her feel better amidst the police interruptions and confirming that the deer was actually dead. I was very glad to know that she was okay and that the Jeep was not terribly injured.

The thing about inspiration is that it comes on me at such odd times. The following day, Thursday, I found myself with about an hour to kill while sitting at my son's dress rehearsal for a show he's in this Friday. The first verse of a poem floated through my head and I ran with it. So, while it has nothing to do with the Year of the Birthday, it does have to do with Lara, and me, and well...I've been told it's funny. I promise a real YOB article in two weeks.

The Plight of the Deer

The birdies sing, the bees they buzz
The air smells fresh and clean.
You can run and jump and eat all day
With no fear of the auto machine.

You are confused right now, as you look around
At this wonderful place you see.
Where did the night go? Where are the stars?
Is this all a vivid dream?

You remember a night so warm and springy
You just had to jump and play.
But alas! The tastiest patch of grass
Was lying across Death's highway.

That stretch of black was infamous
Your family had feared it for years.
Uncle John, Aunt Dottie, Cousins Bucky and Stan
All perished there, stoking your fears.

Even mom, beautiful mama, so graceful and fair
Was lured to her demise on that road.
Too many lives cut short, you think.
Remember Tom the Toad?*

You approached the road, confident of passing
And leapt into the air.
A flash of light, a squeal and BOOM!
Your last thought was "This isn't fair!"

A monster named Jeep held your final doom
Its giant eyeballs were lit.
It was small consolation to see the horrified look
On the driver's face as you were hit.

You'll never again know the taste of that grass
That lay across Death's street.
That ever elusive snack you craved
So green and earthy and sweet.

But wait! What is that tantalizing smell?
Could it be something sweeter grows here?
Yes!! There it is! In the dazzling sun.
And that's Uncle John with a whole herd of deer!

It starts to sink in, this place is amazing!
"Deer heaven is where I must be.
No fear, no pain, and sweet, sweet grass
And MOM! She's there calling to me!"

"Thank you, Jeep. Please don't mourn for me.
I'm in a better place than you.
Please go on with your life, as if we never met.
You have plenty of life left to do."

"The birdies sing, the bees they buzz
The air smells so fresh and clean.
I can run and jump and eat all day
With no fear of the auto machine."

*Tom the Toad (to the tune of O Christmas Tree)
Oh Tom the toad, oh Tom the toad
Why did you jump out in the road?

Oh Tom the toad, of Tom the toad
Why did you jump out in the road?

You were so big and green and fat.
And now you're small and red and flat.

Oh Tom the toad, oh Tom the toad        
Why did you jump out in the road?

I learned this in middle school. I did not write it but would like to shake the hand of whoever did. I have made up my own lyrics to many songs since!

Comments

[Lara]

I think my cousin Tara taught me Tom the Toad. It has other verses. Possum Pete is the only other one I can remember off the top of my head :)

[Billy Coffey]

That is AWESOME!!

[Beth]

Thank you, Billy. I hoped people would like it even though it has nothing to do with the Year of the Birthday!
And I thought it might have been you, Lara, who taught me Tom the Toad!