Charlie and the Guava Tree

Now, Charlie was a mischievous lad,

And on his face, a broad smile, always glad,

A farmer’s son he rambled far and wide,

In an almost graceful, bare-footed glide

One moment he was here, next he was gone,

Always about when the sun ably shone,

And the nemesis of the farmers when on a spree,

Always looking most intent for a Guava tree

For in his heart there was but one true love,

Those delicious guavas hanging high above,

And no matter day or night, no matter how hard,

He’d steal buckets-full in every farmyard

Now, the farmers knew it was him, no doubt,

But they couldn’t catch this clever little lout,

And how they hated this crafty thieve,

But, all to no avail, only a fistful of grief

Then one bright blue morn, a new farmer came,

Rifle ready, steely-eyed, and not at all tame,

His name was du Toit, and a soldier he’d been,

And there wasn’t much at all he had not seen

It was not long before his guava tree’s too were stripped

Of their delicious fruit, in Charlie’s hands gripped

But, this time the lad had gone a guava too far

Still didn’t know it, on a night bedecked with spangled star

Most stealthy he stole forth, not a sound to the wind,

Still haughty and arrogant, and ever so thick-skinned,

But this time Charlie would not again melt safely into the night,

For du Toit’s shower of buck-shot gave him one hell of a fright

And across the hills and veld, a most fearful howl

As Charlie tried to evade the farmer’s buckshot and scowl,

And in the distance heard Charlie’s mom her son’s woeful wail,

As he ran home with farmer du Toit hot on his trail

Suffice it to say he would never again steal

For those guavas no longer had great appeal,

From that night on the farmers could soundly sleep,

And from chastened Charlie, not so much as a peep.