Esmerelda (A Children's Rhyme) . Poem by PAUL COLVIN

She wasn’t tall, in fact quite small with a hump upon her back
She had bow legs and knobbly knees and always dressed in black
Her nose was big and pointed with a huge wart on the end
It’s no wonder that, in this whole wide world, she never had a friend.
Her teeth were green, just like her eyes and she never washed her face
And combed her hair, with an old fish bone, to keep it all in place.
She’d long skinny crooked fingers with pointed purple nails
And used these to collect her lunch of slimy toads and snails.
Her home was in a forest, in a tiny little room
And she never ever cleaned it, even though she had a broom
But this broom was made for flying and she’d fly and soar up high
And when she flew, the moon would Phew! In the midnight purple sky.
Bats would pass as she crossed the sky and the stars just seemed to swoon
Then they twinkled at the wrinkled witch as she laughed at Mr. Moon
Everybody knew her but no-one seemed to care
About what happened to the witch with long black greasy hair!
One night as she was flying, another witch flew past
And since then no-one’s seen her, they’re free from her at last.

Oh did I forget to tell you, her name is Esmerelda.