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All poems are (c) copyright - Bob Eagle

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A speck in the eye

Look out said the man who was walking along
to the man who was crossing the road,
as a lorry approaching with brakes screeching hard
would have stopped if it hadn’t just snowed.

You can talk said the man who was crossing the road
to the man who was shouting the most.
Just look where you're going instead of at me.
You’re about to walk into that post.

Never mind said the man on the pavement.
It’s you that’s in trouble you see,
I can tell because I’ve got a much better view.
You don’t need to fret about me.

If you don’t change direction you’ve had it
said the man in the road. I can tell
from where I am standing that if you don’t change,
you’ll slip on the ice patch as well.

You’re a fool said the man on the pavement.
Here am I giving you free advice.
You’re about to become long and thin
by that lorry that’s skidding on ice.

I’m all right said the man as the lorry approached.
I know what I’m doing, don’t fret.
Which is much more than people could say about you.
Just keep going and see what you get.

It’s your last chance, the man on the pavement declared.
Run forward and you’ll be OK.
Not unless you change direction
or that post will soon get in your way.

We’ll do it together the two of them said.
After three, and we’ll both have a try.
The man in the road missed the lorry
and the other the lamp-post passed by.

But sadly the story’s not over.
For after all of that fuss,
the man who avoided the lorry
ran into the path of a bus.

And the man who had just missed the lamp-post
walking on without making a sound
didn’t see that the Gas Board were working nearby
and fell in their hole in the ground.

So the man in the road got run over
and the man on the path got knocked out.
And if you’d have asked they’d both of them say
they were helping each other no doubt.

The moral is simple and easy.
When in trouble you need know
that you are, and that someone is able
to show you the right way to go.