The Ant and the Queen Bee.

THE ANT travelled through the green grass with a grin,

hopping and skipping, playing his violin.

He played with skill, beauty and poise,

there was not a more beautiful noise.

 

One summer’s day he was playing under a tree,

and a voice came from a bee:

''Mr Ant you are hereby ordered by the Queen,

to play in the court of the royal scene.

Your melodies are most sort after''

to which the ant replied with laughter.

''OK'' the ant said with a grin

''I will honour the Queen with my violin.''

 

He played a little tune and the bee did jive,

before the bee lifted him up to the hive.

 

The ant was escorted through the palace,

where the worker bees looked on with malice,

they huffed and they puffed, gaped and swore,

The ant did smile and did nothing more.

 

The palace was extraordinary, beautiful, serene,

It was the most wonderful place he had ever been.

There were paintings on the walls, strong and bold,

tables made of silver and chairs made of gold,

carpets with marvellous jewels, statues made of stone,

ornaments exquisite and of course Queen Bee’s throne.

 

The ant on arrival, stood to attention

And the Queen announced without an ounce of tension,

‘’Oh, Mr Ant what an honour it is to have you here. I am happy

you did not decline.’

‘’Oh...’ the ant replied

‘The honour is truly mine.’’

 

The Queen and the audience waited for the show to start,

the ant was silent except for the beating of his heart,

and then he said with a grin,

‘’ I will now play for you, my violin.’’

 

He played the first note with such joy and pleasure

And the audience gasped at a feeling they could not measure!

The music was astounding; it was filled with such graces,

Queen and audience were so impressed, tears ran down their faces.

When the music was over, there were claps all around, a loss of

all reasoned thought,

 then the Queen declared

‘’The ant shall be the official musician of the court!’’

 

The ant was surprised; he was not in favour,

and told the queen it was not his flavour.

The queen went red with anger and told her guards with a yell,

‘’Put that ant in the dungeon cell!

He was dragged away and felt forsaken

and worst of all he had his violin taken!

 

In the dungeon cell, with the moonlight pale,

The ant sobbed with a quiet wail.

He thought and thought of how to escape,

And then an idea came in a wonderful shape!

He began to whistle a soothing melody, soft and deep,

and soon the guards outside were falling asleep.

They sailed from side to side, eyes a-flutter,

then in a flash were on the floor like butter.

The ant stretched out his arm, claiming the key,

And in no time at all he was free, free, free!

 

He dashed down the dungeon hall,

being careful not to fall…

Whistling as he strode

soon he found his way to the queen’s abode,

who was snoring like a toad!

and whence he saw his stolen good,

he tip-toed over to where it stood…

he picked it up and with a grin,

quietly plucked his violin.

He tip-toed back with a sneak,

but he went too far and made a creak!

 

The Queen awoke in a fluster,

And shouted ‘Come back here buster!’’

The ant whistled but it did no harm,

And then the queen grabbed him by the arm!

He yanked and he rose,

Hitting the queen on the nose!

The queen fell hard with a mighty roar,

And the ant made his way to the front door!

 

To get his own back, he thought it would be funny,

To feed himself and steal some honey!

He scooped some up and put some in a tin,

climbed down the tree with a curl and a spin,

reaching the ground with a big wide grin

and went hopping and skipping through the green grass,

playing his violin.

Author's Note

A story in verse for a children's book I am composing. My inspiration was Edward Lear, Roald Dahl and Jean de la Fontaine.