A Kind Loving Hedgehog

A kind loving Hedgehog
Was curled up in a ball
All his spikes were out
Could he hear, at all?

In the very middle
Of the road he stayed
So fatigued
Soul weary and frayed

Twenty-ninth of February
Came that year
And another hedgehog
Who’d also shed tears
Thought long and hard
About his plight
Not quite sure
How to put things right

‘He’s parked on the road
This is a fact
Who can talk to him
With love and tact

He’s suffered so much
For such a long time
So his prickles protect him
From what is not fine

Where does he live
Under a hedge?
Or on a high cliff
Right near the edge

Why does he sit
All day on the road
Is he carrying
As weight, burden or load’?

…So being leap year
As the tradition goes
Another hedgehog
Approached him real slow

And calmly said
‘I am looking for a mate
Will you marry me
Before it’s too late’

He rolled himself
In a tight wee ball
Is he old or young
Dark handsome or tall?

All I know
He is still in distress
For parking on the road
Is not the best

Four years from now
I’ll ask him again
Will you marry me
For I’ll still feel the same

…I need a mate
Who’s been tested by fire
Who knows our Maker
And what He requires

I need a mate
A companion and friend
To share my days with
To my life’s end

I live by a hedge
That’s sheltered and warm
How blessed I am
Protected from each storm

O please Mr Hedgehog
Come be my mate
It’s dangerous on this road
Especially in this state

…He poked his head out
For a moment of time
And I had a glimpse
Of a creature quite sublime

…’Whatever I do
I get suffering and pain
That’s why I’m curled up
And here I will remain

I do appreciate you
As a friend
But this road is my home
And it transcends
Anything else
That I could hope for
For all I try
Makes me wounded and sore’

…So one little hedgehog
On the leap year
Proposed to another
Saintly and fair

But once again
She sat down and wrote
This sad ditty
To her friend Manu, please note.

…’For many long years
I’ve done my best
Through test after test
For I sought my Lord’s best

You have seen the suffering
And curled up balls
Of two wounded hedgehogs
Who to you call

I’ve asked him again
To be my mate
On this the twenty- ninth
Leap year date

Manu, she said
I will leave him alone
As I am aware
His life our God owns
But if you know
Of another plan
May this hedgehog
Be my man
For I suspect
That I am the one
Who will end his suffering
That our last days will be fun

…Manu bowed his head
‘In the years to come
You both will uncurl
And bask in the sun

Know for a surety
That intercession and the Dark Night
Bring about a New Birth
That others in their Creator may delight’.

Written 29.2.1988 1 Peter Chapter 4 v 12&13

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