Be Kind To Worms' Week Poem by Paul Lester

Everybody get your feet off the ground
Wherever on earth your feet are bound,
For beneath you the worms are moving around.

There is a slogan the whole world will speak -
The Greek, the Sikh, and in Mozambique
They'll declare a 'Be Kind To Worms' Week.

For remember that worms are just like you,
So many cells and so much glue,
Except they can't chop you in two.

Nevertheless, we must confess,
A 'Be Kind To Worms' Week' could be quite a success,
The start of something big, a Worm Party Congress.

Comrade Worm upon the stage,
Long and slippery, a faceless sage,
Will proclaim the coming of a New Worm Age.

All the populace will be aghast
At this glorious saviour come at last
To preach the doctrine of the Great Worm Caste.

A Worm Party just has to win;
They get right to you if you're fat or thin
Since we have to have something to get buried in.

You could almost say worms are profound
Since you're never quite sure where they'll be found,
In a pile of manure or in consecrated ground.

You could almost say worms are sublime
Since they've never been guilty of a serious crime,
Though they slither through slime and dirt most of the time

No more a bait for the fisherman's lie
Or trapped in puddles and left to die,
No more a treat for the beasts that fly;

They will come, their destinies to seek,
Out of their earthly homes the worms will sneak
To celebrate 'Be Kind To Worms' Week'.

So forsake your shovels, no trampling on the lawn,
Wormkind badges compulsorily worn,
The Worms' Turn cometh with the Worm Dawn.