O'Possum Olympics

When a fam'ly of five lives out on a farm

You'd expect that they'd have tales to tell

Of spiders and snakes, coyotes and deer,

And critters both furry and fell.

We've told you stories of cats and the dog

And how snakes by the mailbox do dwell

How Rosie will bark at cows in the yard

And asks burglars to sit for a spell.

On bright sunny days our home schooling stops

Then out on the meadow we walk.

Raccoon tracks and deer spoor we recognize,

Of flowers and grasses we talk.

But on dark nights, whether cloudy or clear,

When we shut our eyelids tightly

Excitement starts at Concharty Creek Farm:

O’Possum Olympics - held nightly.

The events in this nocturnal contest

Include punting, and running and more.

Our favorite sport is the possum shot put.

Daddy Dwayne holds the high score.

His blood pressure's up, adrenaline's high

A flashlight he holds in his hand:

"Where is that foul beast - disturber of sleep!

That possum's a plague on my land!"

The light shines along the edge of the house

Searching for those small beady eyes.

Rosie assists with charging and barking

Until the o'possum he spies.

Removal begins with a good swift kick.

He darts away! The air is tense.

Dwayne chases the possum all 'round the yard,

Then the possum makes for the fence.

He's trapped at the fence ~ no way to get through.

There's Rosie to bark in his face.

Now he must do, what all possums must do,

And he does it with style and grace.

Mister O'Possum pretends he is dead;

He just lies there and does not budge.

What happens next is not PETA approved --

Dwayne gives mister possum a nudge.

Grabbing the long, hairless tail of his foe

Dwayne lifts the gray fiend from the ground.

Rosie leaps high to look in its eye,

Before Dwayne begins to spin 'round.

Rosie runs rings and she tracks his orbit

As Mister O'Possum gains speed.

He flies through the air like a great, gray bird

And Dwayne is content with the deed.

Next morning we rise, still sleep deprived,

And we stick our heads out the door.

The shot-putted marsupial is gone ~ moved on,

But tonight he'll be back for more.