The sheep cried “Baa! I’m scared of heights!”
The chicken clucked and squawked with fright
The duck replied “we’ll be alright”
And quacked a cheerful tune:
“Although we’re still ascending
And there’s no use pretending
unless we start descending
We’re sure to reach the moon.”
,
The crowd below cheered “hip hooray!”
to Jo and Jacques Montgolfier.
“Ze French have beaten gravité
With this hot air balloon!
And though it’s very nice to see
a sheep, a hen, a duck float free,
can we fly too? Oh, please say ‘oui!’
We’d like to try it soon.”
,
So, Monsieur Jo Montgolfier
declared “These beasts have shown the way!
It seems quite safe, and so I say
we’ll send a man up soon!”
Men flew second, sheep were first
But wait, there’s more, and even worse:
a monkey orbited The Earth
before we reached the moon.
,
Paul Hughes, 2009
