DORCAS
At a Village Hall meeting the other night
we discussed the old chest for toys,
bicycles, scooters and things like that,
for the local girls and boys.
It was kept outside on the car park verge
it was made out of plastic and wood
its hinges were rusty and coming apart
and the lock didn’t work as it should.
The meeting opened and the Chairman said:
‘Ive been told that the chest is not there
and nor are the toys that were kept inside
and it’s all very strange I declare!’
It puzzled the meeting on hearing these words
and after conferring they said
they had no idea as to where they had gone
and the Chairman, nonplussed, scratched his head.
At this point the Treasurer stood and declared
that only that morning he saw
an old wooden shed on the car park verge
and the inside was empty apart from some straw.
The meeting adjourned and they all went to look
at the shed that had newly appeared.
On opening the door you can guess what was there:
the toys, they had all reappeared.
There was silence as they pondered these strange events
till someone asked: ‘Could it be
that this is the shed that Dorcas had;
does everyone else here agree?
On hearing the question heads started to nod
and they agreed it could well be his
and while I was wondering who Dorcas was
it was asked; ‘Could it be that he’s dead?’
But the treasurer declared that that wasn’t so:
‘I’m informed he’s alive, and well
and what’s more I’ve been led to understand
that he’s got a new place to dwell’.
By now I had trouble containing my mirth
and I thought it was all quite mad
but the thought of poor Dorcas who lived in a shed
although funny was also quite sad.
But I still didn’t know who he was
so I voiced the question out loud.
‘He’s a resident here in the village
and he’s popular too’ they avowed.
Well I still wasn’t any the wiser
and my amusement started to show
and try as I might I couldn’t hold back
and laughter tears started to flow.
They looked at me really quite puzzled
as though I was out of my mind.
‘To laugh at a donkey called Dorcas’
they said, ‘is really most awfully unkind’.