The Ant and the Magic Penny

An ant took a trip
To the kitchen one day,
And he put a magic penny
In his pocket on the way.
The penny weighed him down,
But he really didn’t mind
Because the penny was magic
And it made the people kind.
The people, who were nasty
On every other day,
Were nice to the ant
As he made his merry way.
They passed him lots of crumbs
And they fed him on jam,
And they wrapped him up some duck eggs
And a little piece of ham.
And the ant touched his penny
And he smiled to himself
As the people passed down pickles
From a very high-up shelf.
But why would a penny
Make the people change their ways?
The ant asked himself
(And the magic lasted days)
But what he didn’t know,
Was the penny wasn’t magic,
(what happened in the end
To the ant was rather tragic).
The people had been nice
Because the ant had stood up tall,
And he hadn’t shown his nerves,
He’d worked hard to keep his cool.
But he thought it was the penny
That was keeping him so safe,
And so when he lost the penny
He completely lost his faith.
His shoulders sank down low,
And he lost his cocky swagger.
Instead of looking cool,
He looked shifty, and he staggered.
And the people weren’t so nice,
And they squashed him with a pot
And the moral of the story
Is that nerves are quick to spot.
You should always stand up tall
As if you’ve got a magic penny
And a belly full of confidence
Even if you’ve not got any.