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Fred: A Fearful Fate
The Terrible Tale of Lazy Fred who Starved to Death.
From Aesop’s Fable: The Grasshopper and the Ants.
by Prudence Marsh *
Grasshopper Fred.
Dark green
Stripes of yellow
Could be seen.
Fred loved to
Hop!
Hop!
Hop!
In the warm summer sun!
Hopping!
Hopping!
Hopping!
Just so much fun!
Ants!
Ants!
Ants!
Small, busy and black.
Never the ones to slack!
Work!
Work!
Work!
Never the ones to shirk!
Fred said:
Why do you work all day?
I would rather play!
The Ants gave their reply:
We work in the summer heat.
We gather food to eat.
We store our winter Supply.
Without food we will die!
Winter came with frost and snow.
Where will poor Fred go?
The ants have locked their door!
Food?
Food?
Food?
No food anymore!
Poor Fred!
Stone dead!
What a marvelous treat!
Sausage rolls.
With grasshopper meat!
Providence U3A: March 16th 2015
* Prudence Marsh is the nom-de-plume of the U3A DIY Poetry Group
Australian Children’s Poetry 