Never Say I Can't

Never Say ‘I Can’t’

By Jeyakar Vedamanickam

Two frogs fell into a farmer’s vat

Filled with cream, milk and fat.

One licked some cream and hoarsely croaked,

“Tastes good, but what we need’s, ‘to stay afloat’”

The other one gave up with a shout,

“We are stout, we can’t get out.”

Cried he, “I can’t, I can’t”.

Bade adieu and breathed his last.

The lone stout frog, to himself, he croaked,

“To stay afloat, I’ll need a boat.

“Till then I’ll kick and beat about

To keep my breath from flaming out”;

But never will say, “I can’t, I can’t’

As was my now dead, companion’s wont”.

The kicking went on for hours – four,

Stirring the rich fat milky store;

This churned a ball of butter afloat.

Seeing the ball the frog now croaked,

“Here it is; my boat, my boat”.

Hugged his boat and stayed afloat.

Awhile the twain they lobbed and bobbed,

Till he breathed easy; not his last;

The hug had squeezed the butter dry and hard,

Into a launching pad, a pad of lard;

So he hopped aboard, crouched on all four,

And out he sprang, from the milky store.

Said he, “I am glad, I never ever chant,

This deadly phrase, ‘I can’t’, ‘I can’t’”.

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The above poem is taken from the book: 'Sculpting Angels : Parenting Lessons for Fostering Creativity in Children' by Jeyakar Vedamanickam. The book has 33 chapters. Each chapter explains a value/thought/skill that facilitates creative growth followed by an activity for the family which helps imbibe/hone the value/skill.