amos on perseverance

Editor’s note: In response to a reader’s request, Amos asked we reprint a favorite column. Amos is a churchmouse, unable to use the keyboard shift keys and unschooled in the art of punctuation.

boss i think i might have

mentioned this before

but life ain t easy

under a church pew

the heathen alley cats have

declared war on me they

climb up on the window ledge

outside the church and sneer

at me through the stained glass

windows it s unnerving boss

and sometimes makes

my little tail quiver

and not only that but the

church custodian is out to

get me i know he is boss i

keep dodging his mop but

one of these days he s gonna

get me and i ll be the first

real live waxed mouse

you ve ever seen

oh and then a few days ago

some kids spilled some

koolaid all over the

volleyball net and stuck it in

a crumpled pile right behind the

storeroom door so that when i

dived under the door to get

away from marcellus the cat

i found myself tangled up

in the clutches of a koolaid

flavored mass of stringy net

so twisted and contorted

was i that my tail was

dangling in front of my

whiskers life can get so

sticky sometimes boss

while i was dangling

there boss looking more

like a pretzel than a

mouse and needing

a sermon but not

really in the mood

to hear one the lord

brought to my mind

the story of milford

the millipede who set

sail across the sea

in a large cork

he hollowed out a

little place to sit

while he sailed and

he d drink juice and

eat salt pork

he strapped himself

in with a large

padded staple

nothing bothered him

not high winds

nor low ripples

he christened his cork

the unsinkable shepherd

when others scoffed it ll sink

he replied absurd

he faced adversity with a

persistent smile

laughed his way

through storms winds and

boredom mile by mile

but his greatest challenge

appeared to be ahead

when an ill-tempered whale

said i ll smash you dead

so the whale flicked his tail

in anger lashed it down and

splashed water all round

but in spite of those blows

milford s cork quickly rose

and floated serenely before

the whale s big nose

said milford to the whale

you can slap and sputter

and frown but you will

never never keep me down

for i m resting on the stuff

that s buoyant enough to

float instead of to drown

sometimes boss

perseverance simply

means remembering who

we re resting on

amos