A Frog, a Dog, a Cat and a Dragonfly

or

Paul, Larry, Priscilla and Sy

or

A June Afternoon

By: Beth Mulkins

My friend teaches English to kids in Rome, Italy and he asked me to make up some rhymes to use in his lessons. This is what I wrote.

There once was a frog named Paul,

Who, one fine day in June, sat upon a wall –

Until a dragonfly flew by,

And Paul (the frog),

Jumped off that wall (Getting that dragonfly NOT AT ALL!),

And landed on a big dog!

Whose name was Larry (short for Lawrence),

And wouldn’t you know – a cat called Priscilla then ran along a fence,

And Larry,

Who loooooooooooved to chase cats,

Growled, puffed-up, and looked kind of scary –

Ran and chased, chased and ran,

Until Priscilla (the cat) jumped behind a delivery van,

And disappeared between two houses and down an alley with a garbage can,

Overflowing with balloons and flowers,

Leftover from a baby shower.

On and on that cat raced –

Even though Larry had long ago given up the chase,

Until at last Priscilla arrived at the pillow she called home,

In the center of a large pink and white frilly bed, inside a house within the heart of Rome.

Paul, meanwhile, grew weary,

(And not to mention a bit leery),

Of his dog friend called Larry,

With the big teeth, and who like to chase cats and all things hairy –

So PLOP! He went onto the ground,

And whom do you think he found?

A dragonfly named Sy –

Who said he flew by,

And would Paul like to have a game of chess –

Because, he did confess,

That it would be a most splendid way to spend a lovely afternoon,

In June.

So Paul said yes,

And they played a lazy game of chess,

On that hazy June,

Afternoon.

The End