The Debtor Poem by Tony Adah

The tortoise is a slow and harmless boy
He goes about his way quietly
Not even able to rustle some dry leaves
But he relishes some fresh leaves as he crawls
And that is why he is a vegetarian.

Many are jealous of him
Especially the slithering green mamba
Who would want to inflict his venom
And swallow this quiet creature
His mouth too little for the shell
And his venom pure water on a duck's back.

The tortoise poor as he is
Will borrow money from Mr.Pig
In vain able to pay back
The pig will howl a grunt of warning
And the tortoise will tell his little brother
To turn him into a millstone
And grind on his chest when the pig comes for his debt.

The pig arrived as usual for his debt
And when the debtor saw him coming
He went on his back and little brother
Feign grinding corn on his chest
When the pig asked where his debtor was
Little brother uttered that he went out
To look for money to pay back his debt
In a great rage and fumming
The pig picked up the millstone and flung it
Far into the refuse dump in the backyard
Awhile big brother crawled back to the house
And had a twosome laugh
After the ignorant pig had gone.