A Tortoise On His Back Lay Prone

A TORTOISE ON HIS BACK LAY PRONE

A tortoise on his back lay prone,

Unable to go anywhere,

And he’d have had to stay alone

If he was not one of a pair;

For, who else then would come along

But his companion who could see

That something has gone badly wrong

As upside down he shouldn’t be.

By fellow feeling one was bound

To offer help when needed by

The other tortoise which he found

So helpless where he had to lie;

Hence his companion set about 

To nudge the other by a shove

That helped his fellow tortoise out

By giving him his brother love.

God made the world in such a way

That even tortoises rely

Upon a brotherly display

Of feeling they may be moved by.

And if you don’t believe me, though

For love it was the world is made

And that God made it just to show

His loving care to be displayed,

Then children know a good deal more

About the world of nature than

You, who don’t know that what it’s for

Is part of God’s great loving plan;

So all the whispers of concern,

The oohs and ah’s and final cheer

Might teach a lesson we should learn

That must be why God put us here.