Granny had a little dolly
And the dolly's name was Molly
Molly had a taller sister
And her sister's name was Elsa
Doll sisters lived in a big house
Which had a dog, a cat, and mouse
It had a garden, pots with flowers
The clock sundial counts hours
By the front door shines a blue car
If dollies want to travel far
A train parks in the train station
Police guard their police station
In a tall box store outdoor shoes
The best ones you don't want to lose
On the dog house is a big dog
A hedgehog but no green frog
In the hallway see a round rug
Where Molly meets all with a hug
At parties many times a year
For both their birthdays and New Year
But the party which they like best
Is the one in national dress
See their Japanese housekeeper
Plus visitors from Korea
In the hallway by the window
Is a long inviting settee
When you have nowhere else to go
Shut your eyes, dream of sea - or tea
In the kitchen, a chef and cook
Have hat, apron, bowl, dishes' book
In the kitchen the best honey
Which must cost a lot of money
Upstairs, on floor three there's a bed
A pillow where dolls lay their head
A toy box, plus small and big toys
Silent toys which won't make a noise
Small pictures fixed on ev'ry wall
(Gran used blue gum to fix them all)
A wardrobe with a long mirror
Smart dolls, and friends, dress for dinner
Up on the roof's a helipad
Where you can land a little plane
A tower and a sloping roof
Which makes a run'way for the rain
The roof has statues of a dog
A Noah's ark, tortoise and frog
A cow, a horse, even a bear
A small monster with lots of hair
On the roof's a big cat with claws
Which sits beside the Santa Claus
Who lives, hides, on the roof all year
Deer waits to bring their Christmas cheer
Yes, dolly does have a brother
And a father, and a mother
Dolly-sitter Grans gladly stay
While dollies' Dad's on holiday.
Each day dolly girls go to school
The school has lots of written rules
About the times when you can play
A calendar of holidays.
Until at bedtime, yawn and sigh
Tired Dolly has to say goodbye
Gran and our dolls are here to stay
Ready to play another day
So Ava shuts the door, the house
Puts in the cat, puts out the mouse
She says, 'dear dollies, please sleep tight
I wish you, all, a peaceful night'.
-ends-
A new version, cut or expanded to fit 8 syllables per line, added jokes, with illustrations added later today.
Note to poem writers and readers: -
To cut out a syllable, change mother to mum, father to Dad, granny to gran, every to each, dollies to dolly, many other plurals to singular, little to small, a lot of to lots of, past tense and present continuous to simple present tense. To add a syllable, do the reverse, change small to tiny or little. Sometimes by making change you can add an alliteration.
I needed an extra syllable in the line about the monster. Should I add the words bit or small. The monster was small. A small monster adds the inconguity which is amusing.
I needed to lose a syllable to the last line, ending a very good night. I changed it to peaceful night. That was slightly more original than good night.
Toys and DIY
It would be easy to print a tiny list of rules for a school wall, or dolls' house kitchen. Six point type. Or a postage stamp size piece of white paper with your best calligraphy. Or a piece cut from one of those irritating instruction books in tiny print in multiple languages. Or a postage stamp with the head of the president or king or hero or your country or the country you visit on holiday.
Please share links to your favourite posts.
