The Saga Of Strawberry Poem by Mary Naylor

He had pumpkin ears and a pumpkin nose, pumpkin eyes and pumpkin toes, and
a pumpkin tail that rose and flowed. He was a furry, walking pumpkin
berry-so I called him, 'Strawberry.'

Now, Strawberry liked two things-mischief and martyrs' poses.
One day he snapped off my neighbor's prize rose. I shouted, 'No! '
But he trotted away in a glow and dropped it at a lady's feet;
then, he looked at me with eyes sad and meek,
and melted into a pitiful heap.
The girl had a head of red, red curls, and eyes as
green as a shimmering leaf.
Indignantly she asked, 'What did you do to that cat? '

Well, we got married, that girl and I.
But just before the wedding, what did I spy?
Strawberry stealing the wedding ring!
I grabbed him at the vestibule door
and both of us skittered across the floor.

I pried loose the ring just as the choir began to sing.
Suddenly I had a vision of a tiny girl with strawberry curls,
and eyes as green as leaves on a vine-just like her kin.
A little bundle, all mine. I'll probably call her 'Pumpkin.'