A Lesson Learned – A Poem by David Ritter

A Lesson Learned

Miss Gregg was a concerned teacher,
who proudly taught elementary.
She had a problem student,
and his name was Little Johnny.

Little Johnny liked to tell fibs,
and everyone was sick of them.
So Miss Gregg had a bright idea —
she’d tell her own tall tale to him.

Then perhaps Johnny would realize
just how silly it was to lie,
and maybe he’d stop doing it.
She thought, “It’s worth a try.”

Approaching Little Johnny,
she said, “Guess what happened to me?
I was hiking through the forest,
enjoying all the scenery.

As I walked down a rustic trail
that followed along a wide stream,
I noticed standing on his hind legs
a grizzly that caused me to scream!

This beast was about to attack,
when a small dog charged from the woods
and knocked down that angry ol’ bear
where that big, ugly brute once stood.

They rolled and tussled in a brawl,
’til one of them had wounds that bled.
The wiener dog was left standing,
while that grizzly bear lay dead.

Then that dog clutched that big ol’ bear
and dragged the beaten foe away.
While I safely walked onward,
enjoying this most bizarre day.

“Now what do you think of that, Johnny?”
His thoughts appeared lost in a fog,
until he grinned from ear to ear
and announced, “Hey, that was my dog!”

— David Ritter