“Little lizard, little lizard!” his mom gently called,
Out from the tunnel that served as their hall.
She peered ‘round the door of their happy abode,
And saw little lizard at the side of their road.
He sat in a slump on the ground, as it were,
And stared at some ants all roused up in a stir.
She moved to her son and bent down to his ear,
“Why, what is the matter,” she whispered. “My dear?”
“The ants,” he said. “They are scared of my presence.”
“But that’s what we eat,” she replied. “That’s our essence.”
Little lizard looked down and stared at the bugs
And inside his heart couldn’t help but feel tugged.
“If I’ve told you this once, I’ve told you before:
It’s our food, little lizard; they’re meant to restore
Your verve and your vigor so that you might grow
To be big and strong like your brothers, you know.”
She flicked out her tongue and took ants to her chops
And smiled approvingly, nodding non-stop.
“Now,” she said. “It is time for your lessons
So, gather together your school-day possessions
And meet with your father who’s ready to spar
And teach you the world and of all things afar.”
In his room, he collected his notebook and pen
To write down the words that had come from the men
Who’d ventured far out beyond this, their small home
When restless they toiled but wanted to roam.
“Listen up, little lizards.” his father began.
“And hear what I have to impart of the land.
North you encounter the Land of the Shade.
Cushy Mountains are south but don’t be afraid
The Giants who dwell there will let you take rest
Out yonder—” He pointed. “Is cardinal west.
It’s there you will visit the Big Blue Beyond
But stay at its cliff for it’s wet like a pond
But worse since its depth and its waves all a-glimmer
Will take you and keep you; lizards are not good swimmers!”
With that he trod off and into the glare
That shimmered and bounced off the crest of la mer.
At the cliff, they all stood and marveled a minute,
But little lizard stayed longer, amazed by no limit
Of the water, its sheen, its wonderful blue
It went on forever; only bird, if it flew,
Could tell him its measure, one side to the other,
When a voice yelled to him, “Come on, little brother!”
“And one final thing,” his father announced.
“Do not, I mean never, and you here pronounce,
‘I swear I will never go farther than this’
For surely, for then, you will be remiss
To keep yourself safe and secure in your bones
For beyond here is danger, the Great Dark Unknown!”
When all of a sudden, a shadow above
Grew bigger and darker and swooped like a dove,
But this was no dove but a terrible grey
That snatched and stole little lizard away!
In its clutches, he squirmed but feeling no fear
He bit at its toes and below he could hear
The cries of his brothers and father alike,
Which gave him more courage to conquer the strife.
The grip of the bird had grown weak from his bites.
Little lizard fell down and away from the fight.
His landing was soft. On a treetop, he lay,
And looking, he saw something clear as the day:
A massive and haughty and orange iguana
Feeding on leaves and the blooms of the flora.
“A-hem,” the iguana made known his displeasure
“You’ve interrupted my post-mid-day leisure!
Away with you, son, and leave me to munch.
Otherwise, you become my mid-day lunch!”
A gargling snarl from the side could be heard
As an emerald green one advanced undeterred.
“I am a female and much more inclined
To feed on the meat that this male would decline.”
“Don’t lie to him, Sally, he’s had a good fright,”
Said the big male iguana without any spite.
Laughing, she up-raised a glittering claw
And pointed down westward, “You’ve got some chutzpah.
Have you been to the deep of the Great Dark Unknown?”
“No ma’am,” said he. “My dad said my bones
Are threatened by beasts if I tread that far west,
That I shouldn’t be wandering; safety is best.”
“Safety is but a dimwit’s conclusion,”
She said. “Always nothing, it is. Pure illusion!”
Low little lizard’s head bowed in dismay
At hearing the questionable things, she would say.
“My father was right to warn me of these things,
He always speaks truth with a good wholesome ring.”
“Perhaps,” she said with her own ring of doubt.
“But, in you, I see need for adventure will out.
Go west and go deep, inside of the hollows
For then, a big lizard will never once wallow
Among the sad thoughts of his safeguarded wit
Only then little lizard is more than well fit!
For life as a lizard is full of its dangers
And strong must he be who will vanquish its strangers.”
Soon little lizard climbed down the tree’s trunk,
Worried that now he would very well flunk
The challenge the emerald green lizard had lay
At his feet, so right then he decided next day
He would travel from home to the Great Unknown deep.
At night, he would go for he must have to creep
Outward and from the safe home he had known
And take risk to discover what may have his bones
Rattle and shake in an awkwardly manner.
He’d face it at last and stare down the clamor
The world had in store for a lizard like him.
He would find it all out, risking leg and all limbs!
His family, relieved at the call of his voice,
They threw a big party and had to rejoice
For returned was their son, their dear little lizard,
He’d grown and donned the wise look of a wizard.
But later that night that wisdom went dull
As slowly then quickly he went from the hall
And started a journey he might not survive,
But determined was he to learn and to thrive.
The light from the lune shone wide and shone bright
Helping our little lizard with wonderful light
To keep his direction and feet full-aware
To help him avoid the steep cliffs of la mer.
Short time it took to see cliffs sat on far
Opposite side of la mer, “quite bizarre”,
He thought to himself, having always believed
La mer to be plenty and twenty long leagues,
Forever across, but now he could see
La mer was really not grand as a sea,
But smaller in scope, perhaps he had grown
But later, he thought, onward into unknown!
A threshold he’d crossed, and he knew it by nose:
A stinking and foul-scented odor arose.
What it might be was a thought too much cursed
As he among shadows and dark was immersed.
The light from the lune now seemed long disappeared.
Hot breath from the wild grew very much near.
Loud noises like slobbering things at a feast
Grew louder and clear as the groans of the beasts.
Just then a paw or some thing swept the air.
A palm had been moved, and then a great glare:
The lune and its might—now like a spotlight
Revealing the lizard who’d taken affright.
And, running and scampering back down the path,
Little lizard went tumbling down in a splash
And into la mer he fell full body whole
In the waves and the water his body did roll.
Gasping for air, he mightily fought
To keep his head high—his mind overwrought—
To live and be happy to see the next day
To return to his home and abandon the fray
Of life in the deep, to be all safe and warm
With his family again, to return to the norm.
Then fate, as would have it, provided a leaf
On top of said leaf, he had climbed for relief.
Heaving and breathing and mad at his passion,
Stubbornly done what he should have imagined.
Exhausted and beat by the Great Unknown Dark,
He slowly fell sleeping on top of this ark,
Which floated and glided across the deep blue
And entered a cavern, and he had no clue.
All the long night he had slept on this leaf
Safely away from the reach of a thief
Or any such other who might have done harm
To our little lizard, but have no alarm
The very next morning the sky opened up
And down from above came a hand that would cup
Our little lizard asleep on his raft.
The giant was gentle and put down the craft
On top of the patio, he had installed
And our little lizard to him, his mom called.
Come running, come dashing, they came in a pack
And all the young lizards put him on their backs
To carry him home and to bed he must go
To check our sweet lizard for any bad blows.
But he was all right, and his body would rest,
And good mother lizard would rub his warm chest.
All through the day little lizard had slept
And on in the night he had once again crept
But this time inside the house looking for mom
Who, staring and gazing, he found her anon
Musing in silence on top of their house
A hole in the roof had been made by her spouse
To peacefully marvel at all the good world
In safety and comfort to watch the stars twirl.
Our little lizard crept up to the hole.
She’d heard him, deciding just then to control
Any emotion which would reprimand
Instead giving our little lizard her hand.
She said to him, “Sweetie-pie, don’t be afraid
I’d like to explain to you why we obey
Our mothers and fathers, when God tells us right,
To safeguard our children with all of our might.”
He sat with his mother and stared at the lune
While she spoke a melody, like a good tune
Of nature’s great love and all Her great cheer,
“But still there are things that we sometimes should fear.
But lessons you’ve learned today must now instill
The greatness and wonderment—God’s gracious will.”
His mother bent down to his head and did kiss.
“I’m glad you are home again. You, we did miss.
And that you have fought against all you might dread.
But now, my sweet lizard, it’s time for your bed.”
And our little lizard to lune without fright,
He said to the lune, “Little lizard says good night!”
I love this! We have a few rhyming children’s books we wrote and illustrated.
Cute, I like it. Reminds me of Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Block City somewhat. I’m sure you literary scholars have a term for this format.