Sailor and Mouse

Sailor and Mouse

Elizabeth Jetton

There once was sailor broad and bold

His spirit was as bright as the stories he told

His mind was brilliant his back was strong

His soul was a singing and life was the song

 

He sat upon his ship crusty and old

Crusted with barnacles and lathered in mold

His ship upon the swift might sea

Life was boring but at least he was free

 

There was a small mouse tiny and meek

She was fearful, no adventure she did seek

Her fur was white, eyes beady and black

She did worry, a backbone she did lack

 

The sailor just sat there day by day

He just sat there not a word he did say

The little mouse cried tear by tear

for she had no mousey man to hold close and dear

 

One day the sailor heard a small little sound

It was quite unpleasant he search and he frowned

It was the small mouse and her very small cry

She did look pitiful he could not deny

 

He looked at her with a fret and a furry

He said “little darlin’ don’t you cry don’t you worry”

He had to admit she was a mighty fine sight

Against the grey ocean she was gallant light

 

But he knew deep inside they were too different to be

But love is not something upon everyone will agree

So he swooped her in his hands and held her up high

She looked like an angel with not wings to fly

 

In a voice tiny and weak

She painted her face with a smile so meek

“I know your just a sailor and I just a mouse

But love is love, and I can be a spouse.”

 

The sailor let out a laugh giant and bold

He told her a lesson his father had told

He looked in her eyes shiny and pure

She was merely a mouse nothing cavalier

 

“You’re a silly creature, you know nothing of love

Brilliance is for sailors you’re just a delicate dove,

Why don’t you stick to things that you know?

Like cooking, cleaning, or how to sew.”

 

The mouse was quite angered, she wasn’t just a delicate dove

She knew this little thing about this thing they call love

Brilliance isn’t just for sailors, it’s for little mice too

This was something the little mouse knew

 

“I know I am just a mouse tiny and small

But I can do what you can do and all

Brillance isn’t just for sailors bold

This is a lesson my heart told.

 

I can do anything a sailor can do

I can be brilliant, bold, and strong too

All the same time I am not afraid to be calm

I can give birth, I can be a mom.”

 

The sailor realized this was something he could not do

Than he realized the small mouse’s words were true

So he took a moment to stop and to freeze

And he bent down and got on his knees

 

In a sickly sweet voice the sailor than said

“Marry me mouse or I’ll surely be dead

I know I am just a sailor and you’re just a mouse

But love is love and we can play house.”

 

He looked into her beady black eyes

And she gave him an answer that was surely a surprise

She took a deep breath and dug deep down low

She opened her mouth and squeaked out a “No.”

 

There once was a sailor who was ignorant and dumb

He let pass by him the best that ever did come

Now he sits on his ship crusty and old

Forever pretending he was brilliant and bold

 

There once was a mouse tiny and meek

That day she found the wisdom she always did seek

 

It was not found in a sailor, nor in his house

It was found in the small heart of a very small mouse