Marcus McCrary Junior woke up and watched television
He looked out the freezing window awaiting the decision
Snow had buried their Volkswagon leaving a white lump
He turned back toward the t.v. plopping down hard on his rump.
Like ants at a picnic, names of schools crawled across the screen
Finally, good news! He screamed, "No school at Mt. Greene!!!"
He ran through the house grabbing clothes of all sorts.
He ended up wearing just a t-shirt and shorts.
He put on a knit cap that he long since outgrew,
threw open the door and like a robin he flew.
He went to the back and uncovered his sled
behind the lawnmower and rake in their old shed.
He dragged it out to Suicide Hill
braving 20 below with force of sheer will.
He mounted that sled like an experienced jockey,
gliding across ice and snow like the best who play hockey.
Down, down, he raced; snow flying in his face
His tongue was so frozen he lost his sense of taste
His cheeks were chapped like well-worn leather
Mt. Everest climbers had kinder weather.
But he kept on sledding trip after trip,
hanging on to his saucer with a dead man's grip
He had snow covering all of his skin
He was cold outside as well as within.
Marcus Jr. was too stubborn to yield
He would keep sledding across that old field.
Six solid hours he endured numbing cold
Pretty good for a lad only eight years old.
But a cold snap came in with such extreme force
it froze little Marcus midway down the course.
He sat suspended on the hill in mid-slide
A terminal end for that snow joy ride.
He was found frozen solid like a big block of ice
Mother Nature can be brutal; most certainly not nice.
The lesson here which I hope one will learn
is if it's freezing, stay home and avoid snowburn!
