The
Strange Adventures of Robert Mack
by Craig Inanen
This is the story
of Robert Mack
Who went into the woods and never came
back
He carried with him that fateful day
Six sugar cookies and left on his way
He also brought a bumbershoot
His all-weather hat and red rubber boots
For Robert believed in being prepared
Intrepid explorer! Never scared!
Except perhaps once in the night
When a shadowy dresser gave him fright
But I can certainly sympathize
With a boy and a dresser ten times his
size
So, he walked out fearlessly down the
lane
Hardly bothered by the rain
Splashing through puddles that he found
Singing a song while he looked around
The name of the song is lost to me
But it had one line that went fiddle-dee-dee
And another that went high-ho, high-ho
I’m nearly certain that it was so
Then he encountered an old black crow
Who asked him, “Robert, where do you
go?”
He answered politely as some boys do,
“Tell me, old crow, what’s it
to you?”
“But if you feel that you must know
It’s into the woods that I do go”
Then he saluted and tipped his hat
The crow realized, that, that was that
He cawed and offered
this sage advice
“When in the woods look out for mice”
“Boys don’t eat mice,” he
told the bird
And didn’t say another word
Instead, he ate a cookie
The old crow watched, as old crows do
Robert asked, “Would you like one
too?”
The old crow nodded and looked around
Robert placed a cookie upon the ground
The old crow sampled the delicious treat
And then the crumbs down by its feet
The crow told Robert, “You’re
very kind”
“When I said mice that’s what
was in mind”
So, Robert continued down the lane
He still didn’t even mind the rain
He came upon a little green frog
Sitting on a lily pad, by the bog
“A very good day for catching flies”
The Froggie said with bulging eyes
“That’s not something that
little boys eat
But for us frogs they’re quite a
treat”
So, Robert ate a cookie
“I say!” said the frog, “that
looks like fun”
Robert inquired, “Would you like one?”
He placed a cookie upon the ground
The frog hopped over and ate it down
Robert continued on his way
It was proving to be an excellent day
It’s not very often you find on a
walk
Both a crow and a frog that like to talk
So, Robert stayed his adventurous course
Until he was greeted by a friendly old
horse
“Come have some grass,” the
horse did say
“If you’ve no more cookies to
give away”
Robert asked the horse, “How did you
know?”
Who answered, “The old crow told me
so”
Whereupon Robert fed the horse
Leaving only one cookie for him, of
course
So, Robert ate the cookie
Then Robert came to the lion’s lair
A very dangerous lion lived right there
The lion appeared with a mighty roar
And poor little Robert was no more
The moral of the story without a
doubt
is don’t visit lions if the cookies
have run out |
|
