The Friendly Crocodile

(of Dumfries)

As the writer in residence in prison, I am there to inspire them to write

A story for 6 year-old children has got them hooked each night

The story right now is a poem, a poem with a sort of a twist

Its purpose is decorum and manners, these things are so often missed.

A crocodile born in Nigeria, was sad and lonely all day

Born with no wallies to eat, to kill or hunt its prey.

It saw no future in Africa, life was really so sad

No friends came to play on the Niger, yet he was really so good and not bad.

A migrating swallow then spoke to it. It came from the old river Nith

It told of friendly people, Doon Hamers, their Kin and Kith

So the Crocodile swam and it swam, it swam and swam every day

The water grew colder and colder, then it reached the shores of Solway

From there to Dumfries was a doddle, it found home on a bank at Lochside

And a friend aged five, called Colin, met him each day at low tide

To make himself really useful, Colin asked if he’d do a few jobs

Like clean the river of rubbish, of prams and mobiles and knobs

The Police were exceedingly happy. Lost property lay on the banks

Most was returned to their owners with varying degrees of thanks.

The town’s regular winter flooding got the council greatly involved

But dredging was in the Croc’s nature, so the floods were permanently solved

Early every morning, between the hours of two and three

The Croc would leave the river and the town he’d go to see

His sharp claws scraped the streets, the Chewing gum did vanish

And with his tail he wiped away, Graffiti words to banish

At lambing time each year, farmers counted all their flocks

Exposure to rain and frost claimed some, for others hungry hawks

Some fell into the Nith, wandering through a fragile fence

But the Crocodile scooped up many, thus saving farmers pence

Then quite by chance the Croc discovered his wallies were now growing

This put at risk the boys and girls who used the Nith for rowing

So Colin said that home is where he now should spend his days

But thanks to him, the Crocodile, we’ve learned to mend our ways

The croc has returned to the Niger and he’s happy to greet all he meets,

He tells of his days in cold Scotland and the mornings he cleaned up Dumfries.

But this tale is more than a story, a lesson to learn this day.

Keep your town and river tidy, its good to look that way.

For if you don’t remember then guess what we will find?

A Croc with long sharp teeth will have your name in mind!