If You Want To Fly, Be The Eagle

In a flaming flurry of writing, searching out character notes that I put down here: breath, dear lady, breath- ah, there they are- now laugh at yourself- now, what's this? Ariel font? Rhyming couplets? Ah, yes, laugh with yourself. You wrote this, you remember, it was a show for children about the pitfalls of ambition and the joys of friendship. You wrote:

Here's a story writ to warn us

Of the hungry eagle and the envious tortoise

All day long the birds he watched

But tortoise on the ground was stuck

-Ah, he longed so much to fly so free

Good sense is replaced by rivalry

'I challenge you to teach me to fly,'

He nagged at the eagle till by and by

A free lunch opportunity

The peckish eagle comes to see

The bird complies, 'Oh very well,'

And grabs poor tortoise by the shell

'Spread your wings!' the eagle mocks

And drops poor tortoise on the rocks

-He learnt his lesson all too late

Eagle fodder was his fate

If you ever need to touch the sky

Have a crash mat standing by

Plus, sorting fact from fiction

Can cut down on nasty friction

- Another motto I recall

Is 'pride comes before a fall.'

It is based, I think, on one of Aesop's endless tales, some of which I like, some of which I find dour, turgid, misogynistic rubbish. The eagle and tortoise story is sad but entertaining. Tortoise hasn't perfected the art of being careful what he wishes for. This section didn't make the final script but I kept it because it made me laugh and think.

Comments

Geo. said…

"...it made me laugh and think." I've seen far worse definitions of happiness. Good poem, Lily.

16 October 2012 at 04:26

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