Mick the Dig was
working hard
Digging holes in
his back yard.
He’d dig a hole
then fill it in,
The point of
which was lost to him.
Though deep
inside he sort of prayed
That if he dug
enough each day
That sure
enough, eventually,
He’d find some
gold beneath his feet.
For Mick the Dig
was never fussed
To work too hard
to earn his crust.
He’d rather
waste the days away
Digging holes
than earn his pay.
Then one day in
early spring,
When sun and
rain were mingling,
There Mick saw,
way up high,
A rainbow arched
across the sky.
Now we all know
the tale is told
That every
rainbow carries gold;
That at the
point where bow meets ground
A chest of gold
can there be found.
‘That’s it!’
said Mick with sheer delight,
‘I’ll chase that
bow of rain-fed light
And when I reach
the place it rests
I’ll dig until I
find that chest!’
So off he
trundled with his spade
To find the
place where gold was made
Across the
fields and streams he strode
His eyes upon
that coloured bow.
So blind was he
in all his greed
He failed to
take sufficient heed
Of all the
dangers up ahead
Til down into a
hole he went.
Down and down a
hundred feet
Did poor Mick
fall til he did meet
The soggy bottom
with a clout,
All dark and wet
with no way out.
He struck a
match so he could see
Where his fall
caused him to be.
But all the
yellow light could show
Were high and
endless walls of stone.
But strangely
through the stone arose
A pungent odour
to his nose;
And then he
realised the fact
The smell he
smelt was leaking gas.
Too late he
tried to squash the flame
That lit the
walls around the cave,
And with a true
volcanic BOOOOOM!
Mick was
launched towards the moon.
High he soared
above the ground
His limbs
a-waving all around;
Til with final
certainty
He soon
succumbed to gravity.
Far below the
lush fields lay
But for one
large pile of hay.
Flapping arms he
tried to glide
Towards the soft
and golden pile,
Yet sure as
elephants can’t fly
Nor could Mick
for all his trying.
And as the
ground grew closer still
Mick let out a
scream so shrill,
For far from
landing soft in hay
Something else
lay in the way.
Small pink spots
began to grow
With fat pink
legs and fat pink nose.
A piggery! And
with those pigs
A puddle that
was OH, SO BIG!
SPLASH! and
SPLOOSH! And GLUG! he went
Into the mud up
to his head.
And far away
across the hills
No closer was
that rainbow still.
With spade in
hand, awash with dirt,
Mick moved on,
despite his hurt,
Determined now
to do his best
To find the
rainbow’s golden chest.
Up and down the
hills he paced
Determined he
would win the race.
As fast as
Christmas Mick’s feet went
To catch up with
the rainbow’s end,
Too fast was he
to even see
A shoelace that
had broken free.
And sure enough,
with just a slip,
Mick went on
another trip.
Down the hill,
head over heels,
Rolled poor Mick
like a Ferris wheel.
Through
brambles, gorse and nettle sting
Mick sped on
through everything;
Through streams
and bogs and mud knee deep
And smelly stuff
left by a sheep.
Until at last
with one great flop
He finally came
to a stop.
And at his feet
shone like a friend
The rainbow’s…
yes… the RAINBOW’S END!
Upon the ground
like broken jewels
Of red and
orange, green and blue,
The rainbow’s
colours led the way
To where the
chest of gold might lay.
So Mick, despite
his aching limbs,
Picked up his
spade and got stuck in.
Through the muck
he mined and gouged
Til suddenly
down in the ground…
‘IT’S GOLD!’
yelled Mick. ‘It’s gold I’ve struck!
At last a little
piece of luck!’
And down he fell
upon his knees
To extricate
what he had seen.
His fingers
scrabbled in the dirt
To grab the gold
that he’d unearthed,
And shining up
from in the ground
A new and
glinting…
...single
…pound.
Mick’s round
eyes, one black, one blue,
Cast his gaze
across the loot.
He had not words
enough to say
Of what he’d
found that very day.
Down holes he’d
slipped, then blown up high,
Then cast into
the piggy’s sty;
He’d rolled down
hills through brush and thorn
His hair messed
up and clothing torn.
Then slow but
sure, upon his face,
The widest smile
slid into place.
‘It’s true!’ he
said. ‘I comprehend,
That gold lies
at the rainbow’s end!’
And with the joy
he’d always missed
He held that
coin tight in his fist.
Then having felt
such joy profound,
He placed the
coin back in the ground.
And at his feet
shone like a friend,
The
rainbow’s…yes…THE RAINBOW’S END.
