Antoinette’s nursery rhyme

An elephant named Fantoli
wasn’t really keen on school.
He knew the alphabet
but he tried in vain to spell it.
He just wanted to play outside all day
because doing sums bored him.

He swapped the letters
which made his grandmother sob and cry.
The words were all reversed
and everyone made a big fuss.
His mother begged and grumbled
his friends even encouraged him.

But Grandpa then came with the advice:
“Go see a doctor in the street!”
The quack examined Toli
this ailment doesn’t appear in his book.
The cure: “Just take him to the beach
where crabs squirm in the sand.

Maybe he should try
to learn crab manners too.”
He then retreated a few steps
the crabs smiled shyly.
Fantoli is now walking backwards
it was a big decision for him.

But BAC becomes ABC
the animals cheer and say: “Yes-yes”.
Fantoli is now called Elephant
there is nothing wrong with his mind.
He writes and counts and reads the newspaper
there is now peace in Animal Land.

2014