A mother taught her offspring, as
From the Bible she would quote,
How Samson used a jaw-bone
When a fierce beast he smote.
How Moses ‘cleft’ the waters,
The Egyptians on his tail, how
Jonah took up lodgings in
The belly of a whale. Yet
Trying to explain t’lad
The ‘ashes to ashes’ bit,
The dust to dust that followed,
Was a tad beyond his wit.
But he surprised his mummy,
Breaking silence when he said:
‘Someone’s coming or going
Underneath my bed!’

Bill Austin, Blackburn.