amos encounters greg the groundhog

Gary Mitchell: CNJ columnist

Editor’s note: Amos is a church mouse, who types by hopping on the computer keyboard, but he can’t operate the capital shift keys, and he shuns punctuation marks – except dashes and hyphens.

amos encounters

greg the groundhog

boss i am so happy to

see january melting away

surely february will bring

warm joy-filled days

but maybe not

not if you believe that

eccentric groundhog

named greg i met the

other day

he must have wakened

on the wrong side or at

least on the wrong day

he was the rudest

most egotistical

groundhog i ll

ever meet

he was grumping and

harrumphing groaning

and moaning to beat

the heat

what s the matter says

me you re not acting

so very cheerfully

of course not says he

rather miserably look at

me am i not the epitome

of weather predictability

greg the groundhog is the

top dog of fogs bogs and

rain-soakin sogs i m the

best in the west east

north and all the rest

but who gets all the top

press who claims that he s

the best some dog of a

groundhog named

pawpucket phil or

whatever you will

well maybe says me that

he s just predicting for

his territory his own part

of the country and you can

prognosticate for our

little city and surrounding

community

our community says he

with a shout who cares

about this little drip of a

water spout i have greater

dreams in sight my career

is just taking flight why

anything less than a

continent wouldn t be

right now go on my

little mouse go chase

yourself a little louse or

at least go on back to

your house

you see i ve got to

stick my head out of

my hole and predict the

future of winter or spring

cause that s my role

after all i m the celebrity

of the day and nobody and

nothing s going to get in

my way

oh yeah says me a little

bit defiantly you better

be careful what you say

cause god is listening

all the time every day

he hears you when you

sob and pray and he

hears you when you gloat

and bray

you just need to watch

out or you ll get what you

say in the way you pray

and sure enough boss

the lord must have

listened in cause when

greg the groundhog

popped up early this

morning he was hit

square in the mug by a

load full of muck snow

and mud splattered by

a city dump truck

so boss we may never know

what greg s fascinating

prediction might have

foretold - it could have been

warm or maybe more cold

but for him it ll be a long

wintry din-din of eating self-

glorified dirt pride and sin

amos

p s - boss i really hope

this winter can be cut

short by god s mercy and

grace mainly cause my

toes still are froze and my

little tail thinks it s turned

into a permanent icicle