The Sly Spider
By Josie Whitehead
An artful spider made a plan
To fool his insect friends.
‘I’ve done some awful things,’ he said.
‘I want to make amends.’
‘To put things right,’ he told them all,
‘Please visit me for tea.
I’ve lots of tasty things in mind,
As, on that day you’ll see.’
The minibeasts were quite surprised,
But thought it might be true,
That someone, so despised by them,
Would find some good to do.
‘Oh, let us give him one last chance,
To show us that he cares.’ –
And: ‘I’ve heard that he’s a superb cook.
How nice to think he shares.’
They washed and dressed and, one by one,
Arrived in time for tea.
They knocked upon the spider’s door,
And in went the first three.
But oh! And oh! And oh again!
Quite hidden from them all
A spider’s web awaited them
Which stretched from wall to wall.
Quite gripped within the spider’s web
The three cried in distress,
But did their friends come to their aid?
Oh no, as you will guess.
They knew the power of spiders’ webs And knew what spiders did,
So arriving guests fled for their lives
And very quickly hid.
But the truth was there for all to see,
As clear as clear can be:
They’d not been told that they would eat
When they’d been asked to tea.
