Toad In The Hole Poem by Clive Blake

Though I'm ugly and I'm old,
And I'm fat and I'm bald,
And I'm grey and I'm cold;
I've still a story to be told …

I've never been a handsome prince
As far as I can tell;
Unless I lost my memory
During a witch's evil spell!

I started my spawned life in a pond,
In that valley, there beyond,
I haven't always been a 'toad-in-the-hole',
I was once, a cute tadpole.

I'm a source of fear for superstitious folk
The hapless butt of many a joke,
I'm not endearing, or the least bit cute,
With all the charm of a hob-nail-boot.

I'm not a worshiper of the sun,
My warty skin preferring it dank,
So I make my home in a shaded hole,
In a man-made stone hedge, or a bank.

You might think that I'm between a rock and a hard place,
That I've got my back to the wall,
But it's me that's never worked, paid tax or had a mortgage,
And never had to go to school!