Ferdinand

Do you remember Ferdinand,
A bull who wouldn't fight?
First published 1936,
The pages black and white.

He liked to sit beneath a tree
And smell the blooms that grew;
A simple soul, unlike his friends,
A stomping, rowdy crew.

They chose him for a bullfight,
Wrongly thinking he was fierce
As he bucked and snorted when his rump
A bumblebee did pierce.

Of course, once in the ring he sat
And some of you, stop reading
If you do not want to know the end;
Despite all human pleading 

They couldn't get that bull to move.
He simply sniffed the air,
Enjoying fragrant flowers
In the fancy ladies' hair.

My grandkids listened to this tale 
And tried to understand
Why they'd want to fight a bull at all
In Spain, a far-off land.

Yet the message somehow made it through
And I was gratified
A beloved story can such pleasure
Still, today, provide.