I was 9
House wasn't really home
Home was at grandmas
Tales by moonlight meant More
Than the world; all the world I knew

Gathered under the shed at night
Moon or not
Story night must go on
The other kids swarmed
In mini circles
Breaking kernel, not me though;
All I did was eat them

The tortoise was my favorite
Albeit a fictional cun,
the tales did justice
To his poise, and I started
To believe that slow was good
Slow and wise was the vogue
At the expense of the arrogant dog

The lion was my favorite villain
Loved him for his hair and voice
"The lion said to the tortoise" right?
Of cos he had a voice, how else
Would he have spoken?

All too often my thoughts go back
to those times
when 9 wasn't just my age
But a time for tales