The Witch on Gooseberry Lane
Happy Henry is the lookout for his town,
He uses his kaleidoscope
To check the forest up and down.
He checks in the morning, he checks in the night
For any sign of a witch
That travels by flight.
One morning he sees her and flail he does,
Before ringing the big bell,
Sending the town abuzz.
The townsfolk all hurry,
They scurry in a flurry.
Mrs. Thomas grabs her children.
Mr. Brown grabs his wares.
Fluffy Flora grabs her large collection
Of soft, stuffed teddy bears.
Big Jimmy is fear stricken
He’s quick to hide with his chickens.
Little Jimmy makes not a peep
He hops a tall fence
To hide with his sheep.
Jimmy Jim whistles for his dog, to wrangle his hogs.
Once the dog’s done,
they hide in the bog!
Tired Tina hides behind her broken cart
Miss Diana hides behind her tall corn stalks
The twins Mila and Miles
Grab all their cakes.
Stacking them high,
They hide, watching their cake tower shake!
Miss Cindy hears the bell,
Her students she rushes to the room under the stairwell!
Happy Henry picks up his kaleidoscope
All broken and shattered
Running down to his home
The pieces all scatter.
The last of the townsfolk
Shut their doors, shut their blinds.
They peer from their curtains,
to watch the witch arrive!
She flies into town
In a blue ruffled gown.
Landing with a boom
She hops off her frazzled broom.
“My, my! Your town is cute and quaint!”
“I see, I see! In need of a town witch are thee!”
“There, there! Upon the hill my atelier will be!”
So she goes, in her tall, shiny hat.
Bounding up the big, green hill like a skilled acrobat!
The townsfolk peek and stare
As the strange blue witch sets up her new atelier.
From the top of the hill
Shoots a big plume of smoke.
The colorful show,
shines on the town below.
The town is perplexed,
They hide while deciding
What to do next…
All the town’s folk stay very still
Until they hear Mrs. Thomas loud, high-pitched shrills,
“A witch on our hill
I shall show her no goodwill!
My children are scared,
Of her rambunctious fanfare!”
Happy Harry huffs, he puffs
He crosses his arms.
He’ll be the first to visit the witch,
He won’t even flinch!
Quiet as a mouse,
He’s out of his house.
Into town he walks,
As the people all gawk.
Past Mr. Brown,
Past all the children,
Past Fluffy Flora,
Past all the cakes in the kitchen!
He walks up the hill until he startles and hides.
He sees her tall pointed hat
As it bobbles and jives.
With a wave of her ladle, a scatter of nettles
A gaggle of helpers float down like sweet falling petals!
Her little helpers flitter and flatter
They carry out her orders with a pitter and a patter.
From a pumpkin, a cauldron she makes.
Over the cauldron her ladle she shakes.
First puffs out a pile of bricks
Next, some mortar to make them all stick!
By the time her helpers are done
A new day has begun
A hip-hip-hoorah! All of them applaud!
Waving of her ladle, swishing of her dress
Out pops a wood sign to mark her success.
The sign declares her Mae,
Witch on Gooseberry Lane!
“Come out, come out! My first client!
I know you’re there even if you try to hide it!”
Happy Henry steps out
His mouth wide open with awe-struck delight!
“You made this all, Miss Mae?
With your magical ladle? What a fantastical display!”
“Of course, of course! That’s what I do,
Now tell me good boy what I can do for you?”
Happy Henry’s kaleidoscope is still shattered
He wonders if Miss Mae will know where it’s scattered.
“Miss Mae you can find and bind things, I hope.
Please, please please, I want my kaleidoscope!
“At once, at once! Now step back young boy, a wave of my wand
will call your kaleidoscope once more!”
With a stir of her ladle, a sprinkle or two
The pieces fly into the cauldron like kaleidoscope soup!
With a flick of her ladle, a whisper or two
Miss Mae reaches in and pulls out a pile of goo!
One final whack!
She smacks the kaleidoscope back!
“My kaleidoscope? It’s back to brand new!
The only difference is now it’s totally blue!”
“It is, it is! Now run right back down,
Let the other folk know of the new witch in town!”
Happy Henry runs down the hill
All through the town hollering haughtily he yells,
“Miss Mae is a most magnificent witch
She fixed my kaleidoscope quick as a stitch!”
One by one the townsfolk come out,
They whisper amongst themselves as Happy Henry shouts.
Mr. Brown is perplexed,
Fluffly Flora wonders if she can be next.
Big Jimmy clucks, Little Jimmy bleats,
Jimmy Jim hops out of the bog
And lures his hogs out with sweet, red beets
Tired Tina sits on her cart,
Miss Diana stares at her unpicked corn stalks.
Mila looks at Miles
“The witch grants wishes,
I should ask her to wash all these dishes.”
Miles looks at Mila,
“Forget the dishes, and the witch’s wishes,
The cake’s are going to fall!
Take cover ya’ll!”
Everyone gasps, they shout, they huddle
As the cake tower falls over straight into a puddle!
The cake is destroyed, the town is a mess
The twins try not to cry, here comes the witch in her blue dress!
Miss Mae hops down, her helpers line up neat.
She cleans up the mess like it’s no big feat!
“All clean, all clean! See? I’m not scary,
Come up the hill, and we shall make merry!”
Miss Mae takes her helpers back up the lane
Leaving behind lanterns to light the terrain!
The twins sit and ponder, they look all around
Who will be the first to go up the hill, up the newly lit ground.
Miss Cindy hops out of her tight hiding spot
“My students fear not!
Come out here now,
Stand in a line
Ready or not,
Let’s head up the incline!”
High up the green hill, at the end of Gooseberry Lane
Miss Cindy takes her students walking before they can complain.
Once at the top, the Witch Mae guides them
To sit upon flowers with bright pink stems!
“You’re all here to visit me, to ask for a wish.
Just come up and tell me, I’ll grant it with a swish!”
One by one the children approach
To tell the Witch Mae what they wish for.
For Little Steve she makes new shoes,
A pair that won’t tear, won’t wear, won’t need repair!
For Little Sam she makes a new hat,
One with a big red pom-pom so his mom will know where he’s at!
Little Jane needs new glasses, her old ones are blurry.
Now she can see, even if she hurries!
Little Maria approaches slowly, quiet as a mouse,
She points to a building and asks for a new warehouse!
For Little James she makes a potion,
Now he’s the fastest runner in town, what a commotion!
For Little Mikey she makes a charm,
So, he can help find all the animals on the Uncle Jimmys’ farm.
For Miss Cindy she makes magic chalk,
Now what she draws moves around with a big squawk!
For all the little children Miss Mae makes
Little baggies of sweet magic flakes.
With a shining smile she bops the top of their heads,
To send them back home right into their beds!
When the kids wake up, they run to tell everyone they meet
All about the witch and her magic sweets!
“She’s a hoot!”
“She’s gave us all this candy loot!”
“Look dad, she made me new magic boots!”
Most parents are perplexed
But Mrs. Thomas is oh, so vexed!
Taking Little Sam’s hat
And all the sweet flakes he hauled back,
She marches up the green hill with speed.
“Our town is good, it’s great, it’s grand!
A witch is not needed, not necessary, not to be had!”
Miss Mae opens her window, her hair a big mess
To see who it is shouting in wildly loud distress.
“Now, Now! What is this? Unhappy with my service, that cannot be!
Tell me, what is your wish? I shall grant it for thee!”
Mrs. Thomas is not happy, is not happy at all.
“Our town is marvelous, magnificent, majestic!
There’s no need for meddling witches to make a mess!”
Miss Mae nods, she hops from her window and flops
Right onto a cushioned seat,
“I make no messes, I only make rhymes
How about I grant a wish, to give you more time?”
The witch she acts quick, she picks her best melon.
With a tap on its hull, she splits it in two.
Taking one half, she scoops it out clean,
Then she gives it a tap and grows it four feet.
The melon grows and grows,
It tilts to and fro
Until waddling down the hill,
Right into Mrs. Thomas’ kid-filled abode!
The melon gives a big spin,
Collecting dirty laundry with a huff.
It scrubs the clothing in its tub then dries it until it fluffs.
Mrs. Thomas watches, her mouth wide in awe
“All that laundry washed in a flash,
I can’t believe it, not even a splash!”
She turns to Miss Mae, embarrassed and shy
But Miss Mae just smiles and waves her goodbye.
“Bye Bye, Bye Bye! Do let the town know,
That I still have many tricks to show!”
Mrs. Thomas makes her way back,
She announces it for everyone to hear,
“It’s true, it’s true. Miss Mae is not a hack or a quack!
It’s good to have a witch near!”
After hearing Mrs. Thomas’ account,
Everyone wants Miss Mae’s help.
Mr. Brown has a new warehouse for all of his wares,
All he’s missing is a stall so he can sell it all!
Fluffy Flora wants a house for her bears
So, Miss Mae makes her a mansion, it even has stairs!
Big Jimmy asks for help collecting chicken eggs
Miss Mae makes him an egg collector with two legs!
Little Jimmy asks for a wool sweater
From Miss Mae he gets a wool-shearer-spinner-weaver!
For Jimmy Jim she makes a new place to swim
Now his hogs are all clean and ready to win!
Tired Tina gets a new cart.
Now, she can easily push her cart into the town mart!
Miss Diana gets has a multi-arm picker,
Now she can make her famous corn bread even quicker!
For Mila a ladder,
To reach up high
For Miles a paddle
To keep their cakes aligned!
Miss Mae grants wishes.
Even ones to wash dishes.
She makes potions, lotions,
Even rings that show emotions!
Happy Henry watches it all from his tower
He watches Miss Mae’s mighty magic power!
Now he tells all the people who want to pass through
“Our town has a witch in a big blue gown,
Her name is Miss Mae, she’s best witch around!”
“She’s quick, she’s fast
She’ll give you exactly what you wish for, at last!”
“She’s really quite special, she’s never been plain.
She’s our town’s only witch on Gooseberry Lane!”