I’ve not shared this one in a while – A poem inspired by my son whilst he was on his Duke of Edinburgh Expedition many years ago!

Copies of the book are still available from me – £5 plus postage. Please email me if you would like a copy.

worldlywinds@mail.com

With face of delight,

my son runs to me –

I’ve tipped up a sheep,

he shouted with glee.

My face drops with horror.

Well how could this be?

Am I the worst mother,

has he learned nothing from me?

“Calm down Mother!”

my son reassures.

“It’s not as you think,”

with derision he snorts.

“We walked in a field,

(in the group we were five,)

saw a sheep on its back,

with legs waving at sky.

It soon came apparent,

from what we could see,

that the sheep was so stuck,

‘twas a strange sight to see.

We tried hard to lift her,

but to no avail,

she was fat, wet, and smelly,

the weight of a whale.

Then out of the blue,

an idea did occur,

we spread out our groundsheet,

to roll her on there.

With one mighty tug,

we pulled the sheet up,

and the sheep it did tip,

(the right way up!)

So, off with a wobble,

and a, ‘baa,’ of delight,

the sheep she then trotted –

it was quite a sight!

So you see Mum, it’s true,

the things I did say,

we tipped up a sheep.”

(Thankfully – the right way!)

©Tipping Sheep (the right way) 2012

By Alexandra Carr-Malcolm