caterpillar

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud,
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of hungry caterpill’s
On Monday they, up in the trees,
Were nibbling apples in the breeze.

They carried on that fruity line:
Two pears, three plums, four strawberries,
And five oranges, hard to rhyme
But they were all still hungry:
Friday I saw them at a glance,
Tossing their legs in sprightly dance.

And after followed saturday
They then had ice-cream and Swiss cheese,
A poet could not but feel ill,
As lollipops they too did swill:
I gazed -- they grazed -- but never thought,
Of fresh salad that one had brought.

But later, after cherry pie,
And pickles, cake and sausage foods,
They turned sick eyes unto the sky
And uttered noises very rude;
With single leaf their stomachs filled,
Cocooned my little caterpill’s.