Old Pollyanna

lived up the lane

in a tiny cottage

honest and plain.

In her eightieth year

they said she couldn’t cope.

To go into a nursing home

was her only hope.

Her bags were packed

the date was set

but old Pollyanna

she wasn’t finished yet.

She’d had one ambition

since she was a child

to do something crazy

to do something wild.

When night came down

she wanted to go

and take off all her clothes

and roll in the snow.

All day long

the snow was falling fast.

With toboggans and pom pom hats

the kids ran past.

They were going to

the top of the hill

to toboggan down

just for the thrill.

Pollyanna smiled,

looked at her tea tray

and she thought

“I’ll wait til

the end of the day”.

When night-time fell

she put on her coat

singing a song

with a cracked old note

carrying her tea tray

under her arm

she went up the lane

and past the old farm

left her clothes

in a small neat stack

sat down on her tray, said

“I ain’t going back”.

She zoomed down the hill

fast as you could run

in all her eighty years

she’d never had such fun.

Found next morning -

What a disgrace!

A naked old lady

with a smile on her face.

They buried Pollyanna

at the top

of the hill.

It was where she’d had

her biggest thrill

and instead of a gravestone,

to this very day

stands her trusty, rusty,

old tea tray!