The parable of Billy the kyte
by
Adéle Jordaan
(with credit to Pieter W Grobbelaar, who wrote the original story in Afrikaans, titled "Pietervlie" 1976)
He was two sticks
a sheet of brown paper and a jar of glue
a few old rags and some string
and paint - red and green and blue
That's all he was, and no one even knew
that he existed, that is until the boy came
The boy took sticks and tied them with string
wrapping brown paper all around
he made a tail out of the rags
and painted blue eyes, red nose round
and a colourful mouth that made no sound,
but smiled none the less, with four teeth
"He has to fly high, he'll fly way up"
that's what the boy told his sister
Little did he know that Billy the kyte
was a proud and arrogant mister
that was planning to fly even higher
than the boy ever thought possible
The boy and his sister were ready -
it was the next morning, real early
the sun was just up and waiting,
it seemed, for Billy
to dance with the wind, so freely
and tug at the string really wildly
Up, up and away
The beauty of Billy's blue eyes
and round red nose against the
blue of the bright morning skies,
worsened the nasty surprise
when Billy broke free from the string
"Oh man, there goes Billy", cried the boy
"He's done, for sure" sighed his sister
But Billy thought, "no, this is life! -
I'll even fly into a twister"
Heck, I'll BE the twister
and a cloud, and the sun, man this is fun"
Maybe Billy would have been content
just to think he's a cloud floating by,
and if clouds lasted forever
he would probably still be in the sky
but everything changes and why
no one knows, but that's how it goes
The wind was wild and free
He tried to whip his tail 'round
but Billy struggled to keep up
with no string from the ground
to hold him, and with no sound,
the wind just died down
"Falling, I'm dying!", cried Billy
As he fell downward, faster and faster
As branches pierced through, he thought
"It's the end, man, did I court disaster -
So much for being my own master"
There he hung, in darkness and all alone
"What's this in our neck of the woods?"
"Just throw it out," cried Blue Bird
"Oh shame, Oh shame" said Dove
And Billy - he said no word
because he was tattered and hurt
waiting for death, for relief
A soft breeze came with gentleness
And lifted him out of the tree
Placing him tenderly on the ground
And suddenly voices: " What have we
here? A Kyte! Oh man, just think, we
can fix it up, and it'll fly again!"
The two boys excitedly worked
Into the late afternoon
The patchwork was well done,
"He'll be flying real soon,"
said the one, "Tomorrow at noon"
Said the other
"One two three! He's up and flying!"
"The wind is his friend again"
The boys were wild with excitement
and stood like the proudest of men
as Billy took to the skies once again,
more patiently this time, with caution
Higher and higher he climbed
A funny and odd looking sight
But flying again, and happier now
tail swaying with all its might,
now and again he hung in mid flight,
just grateful to still be alive
After Billy greeted the clouds,
and waved at the wind and the sun
the boys were really tired,
and started calling him down.
No arrogance, now, he just obeyed
and happily slept in the shed that night
no longer despising the string, after all
that's what grounded him.
Adéle Jordaan
(with credit to Pieter W Grobbelaar, who wrote the original story in Afrikaans, titled "Pietervlie" 1976)
He was two sticks
a sheet of brown paper and a jar of glue
a few old rags and some string
and paint - red and green and blue
That's all he was, and no one even knew
that he existed, that is until the boy came
The boy took sticks and tied them with string
wrapping brown paper all around
he made a tail out of the rags
and painted blue eyes, red nose round
and a colourful mouth that made no sound,
but smiled none the less, with four teeth
"He has to fly high, he'll fly way up"
that's what the boy told his sister
Little did he know that Billy the kyte
was a proud and arrogant mister
that was planning to fly even higher
than the boy ever thought possible
The boy and his sister were ready -
it was the next morning, real early
the sun was just up and waiting,
it seemed, for Billy
to dance with the wind, so freely
and tug at the string really wildly
Up, up and away
The beauty of Billy's blue eyes
and round red nose against the
blue of the bright morning skies,
worsened the nasty surprise
when Billy broke free from the string
"Oh man, there goes Billy", cried the boy
"He's done, for sure" sighed his sister
But Billy thought, "no, this is life! -
I'll even fly into a twister"
Heck, I'll BE the twister
and a cloud, and the sun, man this is fun"
Maybe Billy would have been content
just to think he's a cloud floating by,
and if clouds lasted forever
he would probably still be in the sky
but everything changes and why
no one knows, but that's how it goes
The wind was wild and free
He tried to whip his tail 'round
but Billy struggled to keep up
with no string from the ground
to hold him, and with no sound,
the wind just died down
"Falling, I'm dying!", cried Billy
As he fell downward, faster and faster
As branches pierced through, he thought
"It's the end, man, did I court disaster -
So much for being my own master"
There he hung, in darkness and all alone
"What's this in our neck of the woods?"
"Just throw it out," cried Blue Bird
"Oh shame, Oh shame" said Dove
And Billy - he said no word
because he was tattered and hurt
waiting for death, for relief
A soft breeze came with gentleness
And lifted him out of the tree
Placing him tenderly on the ground
And suddenly voices: " What have we
here? A Kyte! Oh man, just think, we
can fix it up, and it'll fly again!"
The two boys excitedly worked
Into the late afternoon
The patchwork was well done,
"He'll be flying real soon,"
said the one, "Tomorrow at noon"
Said the other
"One two three! He's up and flying!"
"The wind is his friend again"
The boys were wild with excitement
and stood like the proudest of men
as Billy took to the skies once again,
more patiently this time, with caution
Higher and higher he climbed
A funny and odd looking sight
But flying again, and happier now
tail swaying with all its might,
now and again he hung in mid flight,
just grateful to still be alive
After Billy greeted the clouds,
and waved at the wind and the sun
the boys were really tired,
and started calling him down.
No arrogance, now, he just obeyed
and happily slept in the shed that night
no longer despising the string, after all
that's what grounded him.
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