A FABLE

A cock upon a filthy hill

Was scraping up the evil till,

When suddenly a gem a-glittering

Rolled out beside the hens, whose tittering

Started the labouring cock to click,

And with a vicious, well-aimed kick

He sent that glittering thing to scorn,

And said, “A grain of good fat corn

Would answer better than useless toys

To fill my crop and raise my joys.”

Willie Johnston Age 14

Tullygrawley School