30 Days: Bess: A Llama Drama

Bess: A Llama Drama
By
Lori Nawyn

Young Bess was a llama,
Involved in a drama,
That shocked her sisters
And upset her mama.

She sat by the fence
With a sigh and a pout
Watching her sisters
frolic about.

They rolled in the dirt,
Like the big llamas did.
And in games of Go Seek
They took turns and hid.

"Why my sweet Bess,"
Her mama did say,
"Why won't you go out
With your sisters and play?"

"If I had a chance,
A chance for one wish,
I would choose-I'm sure-
To swim like a fish!"

"Eeeeww!" said her sisters.

"Oh, dear," cried her mama.

"You need to talk
To your Grandllama Pru,
She'll tell you what's proper
For a llama to do."

Grandma looked stern
From her ears to her toes.
The old llama, so wise,
Looked down her long nose.

"Hello, my young Bess,"
Said the weathered Grandllama.
"Talk to me, dear,
Tell me what is the drama?"

"If I had a chance,
A chance for one wish,
I would choose-I'm sure-
To swim like a fish!"

"Eeeeww!" said her sisters, from across the field.

"Oh, dear," moaned her mama.

Grandllama just smiled
And sniffed at the grass.
"Let me tell you what happened,
When I was a lass."

My mama took me
To my grandllama too,
To tell me what's proper
For a llama to do.

"Grandma Amelia,
She told me this,
I'll tell you now so
Don't let your ears miss...

"'A llama should try
To further herself.
Not sit like a lump,
Or a book on a shelf.'

"It's a fact if there's something
That one wants to try,
Better to do it
Than sit 'round and cry.'

"My grandllama, you see,
Was no shrinking violet.
Courageous and strong she
Indeed was a pilot!"

Then, for all to hear,
Said Grandllama Pru,
"With my friend the cow
Do you know what I do?

Afternoons, when everyone naps
I hike-
Round the stream to the barn
Where I get on my bike!"

Bess' mother said, "Hmmm."
Her hoof tapped her chin.
She thought and then pondered
her face grew a grin.

Bess is so happy,
She got her wish.
She swims in the pond,
Friends with the fish.

Grandllama rides by
With her friend the cow.
She pedals her bike
All the time now.

Bess' sisters, in what
Once caused dismay,
Now don their tutus
And study ballet.

The field is quite crowded.
There's a flock of black coots.
Mama plays the harp
And they play their flutes!