Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Maybelle and the Monkey Tree


I’m Maybelle the monkey
Quite pink and quite fluffy
With a white smiling face
And a tail a mite scruffy

The zoo’s toy shop
Has been home to me
I’ve been waiting and waiting
To be set free

I’m the last of ten monkeys
Now sitting all alone
Just waiting for someone
To take me home

Then, I see her reaching
As cute as can be
Little hands take hold
Loving arms give a squeeze

She chose just one
From all the animals there
She chose me, Maybelle
To love with care

She took me home
And all day we played
Till her mom called her in
Cause dinner was made

I sat on her bed
While she said her prayers
And I snuggled close
As she held me there

She’s asleep now
But I’m still quite awake
I jump from the bed
A little house-tour I’ll take

I just have to know
What’s behind each door
I’m curious, you see
Don’t like to be bored

All around the house
I explore with glee
Then through an open window
I spot the large tree

Squiggling through the opening
Outside I’m now free
To jump from the sill
Onto the branches I see

And low and behold
Guess who’s there?
A troop of monkeys
With all different colored hair

All sizes and shapes
In ones and in twos
I’m so happy to see
My friends from the zoo

Hanging on limbs
Sitting on branches
Hiding behind leaves
Doing tree-swing dances

What are the chances
That there would be
This many monkeys
All in one tree

We play and we play
Till just before dawn
Then we need to go home
Before they notice we’re gone

But below us now sits
A great cat looking mean
Scoping us out
For his next cuisine

We’re all very smart
So before he starts pouncing
We band together
To threaten a trouncing

He sees in our stances
We’ll take none of his guff
So he ambles away
Still acting tough

We each scamper home
To our own domain
After agreeing to meet
Tomorrow night again

To swing on branches
Happy as can be
To fly high each night
In our own Monkey Tree


9 comments:

  1. Awww......that is very cute! :)

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  2. I feel happy and even a little child-like just reading about these playful and carefree monkeys in their monkey tree.
    I'm pretty sure the cat just wanted to play... :)
    Cute story - you have a great way of expressing your youthful spirit in your children's stories and poems.

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  3. Thanks Sandra and Jana! I think the sing-song style helps make it more fun to read. I wish we had knocked on the door of this house to find out what the real story was behind all these stuffed monkeys decorating the tree.

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  4. I wrote a nice long comment but couldn't get it to stick here!!

    It sure didn't take long for you to write up these amazing verses. Your creativity shines brightly as I skip along with your story.

    There's really never a moment free of creative inspiration if we just want to apply our individual words to a subject.

    You rock,
    Shaddy

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  5. Thanks Shaddy - I don't know what's the matter with my site and your comments. I'll do some sleuthing in my profile, in case I've changed something unknowingly.

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  6. That tree sounds a lot like my family tree! Enjoyed it a bunch.

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  7. Thanks Walk! I posted a comment on your poem - it was great!!

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  8. Parrot, we love your poem about the monkey tree. you can also search the Ashland Daily Tiding for the article they wrote on our tree. Sadly we moved and our landlord insisted the monkeys go. we tried to find a new home for them but we were unsuccessful so some were adopted and the rest are in storage. it started when my boyfriend found a monkey on the sidewalk. He put it in the crotch of the tree hoping the owners would return. when they did not return he and his daughter decided to add more. People LOVED it! We got so many donated monkeys, monetary donations and even and package from sacramento addressed to the monkey tree house with a big monkey inside...aaaaaaa Thanks so much for you interest and your poem. we used your picture of the big monkey a few months ago when it was stolen...then when our petition to save the monkeys went up, the big monkey was actually returned! Sorry to say b street has lost some of its funk. Hopefully others will fill the void. thank you, angela, thomas and mia.

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  9. Angela, Thomas and Mia,
    Hi! I'm so glad to hear from you! I'm part of a group of girls (if you can call 50-60 year-olds "girls") that go to Ashland every May for a week to see plays, relax, and chat. We are all from the Portland area. We walked by your tree on the way to the Peerless Restaurant one evening and I was enchanted by it. I just had to come up with a reason there were so many monkeys there! I have eight grand kids and thought I could somehow make it into a story. Then it morphed into the poem. I'm hoping someday to see if I can get it published as a children's book.
    Sorry to hear you had to take it down. Some folks just have no imagination, right?
    We'll check it out this spring to see if anything else has taken its place.
    Take care,
    Linda

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