Ta Voix

The little straw dolls, they gather most quickly!

‘Scurry! scurry! scurry!’ they cry.

For the little straw dolls know nothing of lateness,

Even if you try to pry.

‘Tardy?!’ they yell in shock, ‘whatever do you mean?!’

‘We straw dolls don’t know the meaning of the word.’

All the dolls around them agree,

that dawdling is quite absurd.

Rivers, hills, and gardens, all pristine-clear.

But, the straw dolls, with little time to spare,

many wondrous sights pass on by–

Still, no time to stop and stare.

And when the little straw dolls scamper through your town, 

you might be tempted to yell.

‘Hey little straw dolls! Why don’t you slow down?’

But still they cannot stop, cannot dwell.

‘Slow?! What an odd thing to say!’ They turn their heads and holler:

‘We straw dolls only have one speed!’

A truly chin scratching response

As to why they cannot concede.

So, you might just shake your head

As those odd straw dolls pass you by…

but have you ever stopped to wonder,

how those little straw dolls got so spry?

As the life of a little straw doll

Is not one of simplicity.

Their speed and want to keep things moving,

conceals the truth of their duplicity!

The little straw dolls,

(While harmless to me and you)

Are not without their hunters

With a love of little doll stew!

They chase the dolls

Through those gardens and hills,

Creatures of bloodthirsty intent –

Oh, they do give me the chills.

Though we cannot see them,

Boys and girls of mine,

If we knew the plight of the dolls

It would send shivers down our spines.

Snarling mouths and gristle-flecked teeth,

And eyes of all shapes and sizes,

These creatures hunt straw dolls for sport

With flesh the first, second and third prizes!

 So these little dolls run on

From dark creatures we cannot grasp,

Uneven claws and welt-riddled spines,

the frothing hunger of their clasp!

Every so often a straw doll might slow,

 tempted to peer behind.

But that straw doll will be no more,

Devoured by what they find.

If you see a little straw doll

I would not cheer them with a cry.

For if that little doll slows for just one second 

They will surely die.