Poetic License: Flat Stanley on Sanibel
I
He is just a boy
And a smart one at that
He’s not tall or short
Or skinny or fat,
But everyone knows
Wherever he’s at
The whole world has changed
Now that Stanley is flat.
He could have been round,
Or oval or square,
Could have lain on the ground
With his feet in the air,
Curled up like a baby
Back in the womb
Or stretched out like a mummy
In a pyramid tomb –
But a bulletin board
Soon settled all that
By falling on Stanley
And making him flat.
It made his whole life
An adventure and tale
From a mission in space
To being used as a sail,
From meeting two presidents,
The thrill of his life –
Till he went to the Oscars
With Eastwood and wife.
II
Gramps Muttonchops
Lives in laid-back style
On an island in Florida
Called Sanibel Isle.
He worries that Stanley
Is living too wild
For a third grade student
And nine year old child.
He telephones his parents,
His arguments prevail,
Flat Stanley goes to Florida
Via first class mail
In a luxury mailer
With a cell phone card
To make the trip south
Less lonely and hard.
III
As the mail truck crosses
Sanibel’s Causeway,
The pelicans glide over
To show him the way.
The herons and egrets
Thin as they are
See that Stanley is thinner
By far than they are.
But the gators are jealous
As they stalk their prey
Stanley floats like a log
Much flatter than they.
When he goes windsurfing
He’s used as a sail,
When he flies like a kite
No need for a tail.
No need for a coat,
Ear muffs or sweater,
In Southwest Florida,
It’s always fair weather
Except for those times
In August and July
When lightning and thunder
Crash down from the sky
And rain washes down
For an hour everywhere
Till again it’s sunny
With much cooler air
And evenings are magic
As the moon passes by
The stars shine like fireworks
Frozen still in the sky.
IV
On one of those evenings
On the beach with his Gramps
Stanley noticed the cover
Blown off one of the lamps,
Not shining down,
The light beamed around,
Mixed up turtle hatchlings
Marching on the ground
“Do something” said Gramps,
“And quick let it be,
To steer the hatchlings
Back toward the sea.”
What quickness and courage
Stanley displayed
As he climbed up the lamp
And served as a shade
Blocking the light
So the hatchlings could be
Safe home at last
As they entered the sea.
And as he slid down
Stanley told Gramp,
“It was sure hot and heavy
shading that lamp!”
V
He was given a medal
Next week by CROW,
(A Wildlife Clinic
In case you don’t know.)
And they threw in a gift
Of a big sand dollar
That Stanley being flat
Could use as a collar.
And when Stanley left,
He told everyone,
“I can say Florida
was nothing but fun,
I came down here
For rehab and rest,
The hatchling rescue
Put me to the test.
The weather was great
But what I liked best:
There were no mountains,
Not a hill or a crest,
Wherever we went,
The landscape was flat,
And you know I’m Flat Stanley,
And I really love that!”