Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Poem for Aunty Zendra

Dear Aunty Zendra,

Must say that I admire your courage and determination - conquering your "Everest" while others prefer to catnap....purrr....(yours truly, especially.)

I found this poem while doing my research for the Tiger Blogfest. Thought you'd like it.

It's written by Kenn Nesbitt who had written many books and poems for children. You can read more about him at www. poetry4kids.com. Among the titles are: My Hippo Has the Hiccups: And Other Poems I Totally Made Up (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2009); Revenge of the Lunch Ladies (Meadowbrook Press, 2007); Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney (with Linda Knaus, Meadowbrook Press, 2006); When the Teacher Isn't Looking and Other Funny School Poems (Meadowbrook Press, 2005); The Aliens Have Landed at Our School! (Meadowbrook Press, 2001); Sailing Off to Singapore (Purple Room Publishing, 2001); I've Seen My Kitchen Sink (Purple Room Publishing, 1999) and My Foot Fell Asleep (Purple Room Publishing, 1998).


Here's the poem. Enjoy....


The Tiger and The Zebra


The tiger phoned the zebra
and invited him to dine.
He said "If you could join me
that would simply be divine."
The zebra said "I thank you,
but respectfully decline.
I heard you ate the antelope;
he was a friend of mine."

On hearing this the tiger cried
"I must admit it's true!
I also ate the buffalo,
the llama and the gnu.
And yes I ate the warthog,
the gazelle and kangaroo,
but I could never eat a creature
beautiful as you.

"You see I have a secret
I'm embarrassed to confide:
I look on you with envy
and a modicum of pride.
Of all the creatures ever known,"
the tiger gently sighed,
"It seems we are the only two
with such a stripy hide.

"Now seeing how we share this
strong resemblance of the skin,
I only can conclude that we are
just as close as kin.
This means you are my brother
and, though fearsome I have been,
I could not eat my brother,
that would surely be a sin."

The zebra thought, and then replied
"I'm certain you are right.
The stripy coats we both possess
are such a handsome sight!
My brother, will you let me
reconsider if I might?
My calendar is empty so
please let us dine tonight."

The tiger met the zebra in
his brand-new fancy car
and drove him to a restaurant
which wasn't very far.
And when they both were seated
at a table near the bar,
the zebra asked "What's on the grill?"
The tiger said "You are."

"But please, you cannot dine on me!"
the outraged zebra cried.
"To cook me up and eat me
is a thing I can't abide.
You asked me for your trust
and I unwarily complied.
You said you could not eat me
now you plan to have me fried?"

"And what about the envy
and the modicum of pride?
And what of us as brothers
since we share a stripy hide?"
"I'm sorry," said the tiger
and he smiled as he replied,
"but I love the taste of zebra
so, in other words, I lied."

Angelina's note: Gotcha! har har har *evil laughs*

28 comments:

Lee said...

Hi Cat, very creative, ha ha. I like the poem.
You are good. G'day and keep a song in your heart, Lee.
ps, your comment is stuck at my immigration checkpoint. I have cleared you....but its still stuck.
Will keep trying, Lee.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Uncle Lee,
Wow! The Canadian Immigration so bad lor? Tell them I'm no asylum seeker on a boat! purrr....meow!

Pi Bani said...

Kalau The Tiger & The Zebra bolehlah you nak give that evil laugh.

Tapi kalau tukar to The Cat & The Zendra, sure you kalah!! ;)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Kalau tukar lagi to The Cat and The Pi(e), I sure menang! har har har *evil thoughts*

Pi Bani said...

How about The Cat and The Pee? Ah, tukar teruslah... the Cat's Pee... ;)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
The Cat's Pee can do untold damage to your Canary....be afraid...be really afraid.... har har har *evil thoughts*

mamasita said...

Hahahaha..jahatnya Tiger!!
Binatang betul!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Yummy Mummy,
Shhhh....this blog is PG rated. No foul language... The tiger would reply in Malay: memang makanan aku. har har har *evil laughs*

hazlin said...

hi angie...

i've been in and out of your house, never leaving my paw prints. somehow today, i just couldn't resist. you are soooooo cute.... can i hug you??


take care cutie.

cik boo

Cheqna said...

To Aunty Zendra and all...

Sorry to be the "bad news" bearer,
Got this from the Safari hunter,

Simply that the tiger was dreaming,
When he saw the zebra crossing,

Telephone company had also hinted,
The tiger's line was never connected.

and there you go Aunty Zendra,
He created story "masa tgh lapar",
And Angelina went "har","har","har".

Sorry guys!..


:-)))

~CovertOperations78~ said...

So what's the moral of the story here, Kitties? That you should never trust a carnivore? Or not trust tigers only! Reminds me of this cool t-shirt my college classmate always wore to class. It had a huge African tribal mask on it followed by the words: CANNIBAL CAFE. "We'd love to have you for dinner".

Zendra-Maria said...

Oh my! Cat, hahaha notti, notti - you are now up on my roll of honour!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Hi Cik Boo!
Welcome to my world. Oooh...I lurve hugs. Come, I give you one now. MMMMMWWWWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! purrrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Cheqna!!!!! Aiyo...don't-lah pecah tembelang. purrr....meow!

NanaDJ said...

Cat,
I enjoyed reading the poem. Shows that we cannot be naive and trust sweet words.
"memang makanan aku" - from Bangau oh Bangau isn't it. I always sing that song to 7 month old my grandaughter.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
The moral of the story is, "there is no such thing as a free dinner." It can also apply to vegetarians...you know, like the chilli inviting the taugeh for dinner. Then the taugeh became gado-gado? All flooded with chili paste? har har har *evil thoughts*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Zendra,
No....me no notti. purrr...meow!

Zendra-Maria said...

Cat, hope you don't mind laluan zebra-crossing:

Cheqna, you must be the leopard that chased the no-good saudara-eating tiger away heheh tq, tq

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty NanaDJ,
True! Never ever trust anyone...tigers or otherwise. They'll promise the sky, even, just so you'll be seduced to enter their lair... purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Zebra crossing? Alamak! Down here you have to stop at zebra crossings all the time. purrr....meow!

Cheqna said...

Cats dear, mohon satu lagi laluan zebra, this for your Aunty Zendra..


Leopard?..not I..
But i luv shepherd's pie...


hint! hint!..hehehe..tq tq Cats..!


:-)

Monyet King said...

Hi Cat, lovely poem. I am now off to look for poem where the monyet eats the cat. ...... uuuk uuuk uuuk evil monyet laughter.

tireless mom said...

Ah... so sweet and funny. Why the poet choose Tiger and Zebra ye, not Tiger and Giraffe or Tiger and Flamingo ke?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Cheqna dear,
Shepherd's pie? In your dreams!!!! har har har *evil laughs*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

HRH Monyet King,
Are you telling me that there are carnivorous monkeys? Eeeeuuuwwww...me so scared... har har har *evil thoughts*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Yatt,
As my Cheqna explained:
Simply that the tiger was dreaming,
When he saw the zebra crossing..
You see, the story would have turned out differently if there had been ziraffe or flamingo crossings in this world... har har har *evil laughs*

Cheqna said...

Cats dear...

This cheqna nak pantun lagi,
feel 'lil bit of hurt oh Angie,
But if no Mama's shepherd's pie,
oh well, i'll just survey d kedai!


see...i'm no evil..hehehehe...


mmm...i wonder what ziraffe or flamingo crossings would look like...

:-)))

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Cheqna,
Someone seems to be in rhyming mode nowadays, eh? Hmmm...lemme try too.

Kuah lemak sayur kobis,
Tempe terjatuh dalam koleh;
Shepherd's pie dah habis,
Bread pudding jadi gantinya, boleh?

har har har *evil laughs*