Amos: Running Round Mt. Sinai

amos the churchmouse:

link Amos the Church Mouse

Illustrated by Gary Mitchell

a view from under the pew

Editor’s note: Amos is a churchmouse, unable to use the keyboard shift keys and unschooled in the art of punctuation.

running round mt sinai

boss i ve said it before

and i ll say it again -

life ain t easy beneath

a cushionless church pew

in fact it seems that life

is getting more hectic

and more insane with

every weird day that

rolls around

take for example the

other day marcellus the

cat was on the loose

terrorizing the church

pew underworld

my writing deadlines

were piling up and i had

mousy writer s block and

besides that the church

custodian kept trying to

run me over with his

mop bucket

finally i caught my breath

while cowering in the

kitchen closet and i

decided i had had enough

i stamped my little left

paw and shook my silhouetted

fist against the sunset - if

there ever was one in a

broom closet - like scarlet

o hare did in that great

film classic - gone out the

window - or something like

that - and i shouted out to

nobody in particular -

i ll never turn down

cheesecake again - or some

other quote equally brilliant

so i ran to jump in my 57

cheese-rolet equipped with

my friend willifred the

white rat s tiny time traveler

once i got in i spun the

dial to an earlier simpler

time without caring which

simpler era we landed in

when i climbed out of my

little motorized matchbox

boss i was nearly run over

by a large hairy grumpy

gray mouse in a nomad s tunic

hey you - get outta my way

says he nearly denting

my cheese-rolet

where are you going in such

an all-fired hurry says me

with eyes all blood-shot

and blurry

god s making me learn a

lesson says he now go away

you ll not want to be messing

with me

what lesson says i

how to run fast and die

so he stops boss and says this

here is mount sinai where

god gave us his laws to live

by - and when we break one

it stops all our fun and we

have to run laps in the sun

till our lessons are done

and what lesson are you trying

to learn says me before the

sun s rays make you burn

i have this nasty habit of

griping and grumbling too

much says he

i do all right but then the

plan goes crumbling and i

see our leaders stumbling

and then my tummy starts

rumbling and all we have

to eat is manna dumplings

so i start grumbling and then i

have to take another lap

around mount sinai - and it

ain t no cherry pie either

you mean cake walk says i

whatever says he

i ll probably be running these

laps throughout eternity

as he took off in another cloud

of dust boss it seemed to me

that life always has its tests

and real life may never be

simple or easy wherever

we go - especially if it s

another dusty trail around

mount Sinai

amos