In a house with a pear tree, near a hole in the ground,
Where people had fallen and never been found,
Peter Potts pondered, while eating fresh pears,
About why god made him, without any ears.
When Peter was born, the Doctor declared,
‘Your Son, Mrs Potts, is missing his ears!”
When he took the umbilical cord, and then chopped it,
Mrs Potts screamed out “I want it adopted!”
Mrs Potts, a woman, whose only concern,
was what people wore, and how much they earn,
said to the doctor, “He looks like a fright,
a boy with no ears, it’s simply not right,
there’s no hope for him, he’ll never belong,
I won’t have a son who looks like he’s wrong!!”
Peter was shipped off by boat to a place
Where wrong people went if they had a strange face.
St Benedicts Hospital for boys who are bad,
was run by some Nuns, who were stark raving mad.
They made the boys cry with their sneering and taunting
waking the boys at 4.00 in the morning,
to run a quick mile before breakfast was ready
leftover liver and cold fishy jelly.
The Nuns tried to make Peter cry with their sneers,
but Peter just smiled, because he couldn’t hear.
His constant smiling drove the Nuns wild,
they never called him Peter, just “earless dumb child!”
After 21 years he was free to go home,
and leave all the Nuns to go it alone.
When he left the front gates with a suitcase in hand,
the Nuns yelled at him “Let us give you a hand!
We’re glad that you’re not going to be hanging about
because you’ve got no ears, and that freaks us out!!”
But Peter just gently walked out the place,
A spring in his step, and a smile on his face.
Peter walked for many a mile,
wearing no shoes, just a big friendly smile.
He walked down a road that no one had been,
Because the end of this road, no one had seen.
And half way down it started to snow,
well maybe half way, because nobody knows.
Peter spotted a sign, with words in old style,
“THIS WAY TO GLORY, about one more mile.”
So Glory was where Peter was heading
For some hot meaty soup, and some nice, crisp, clean bedding.
He came to the door of a three-story home,
with a glasshouse, an attic, and a satellite dome.
The sign outside read “Room to Let
No Salesmen. No Drummers. No smokers. No Pets.”
Since Peter wasn’t any of those
and snow was freezing the tip of his nose,
he walked up the path to find out some more,
he tidied himself, and knocked on the door.
The door was answered by Penny Melrose,
who was born in Stockholm without any nose,
Upstairs lived a man called Jeremy Wise,
he spoke fluent Spanish and didn’t have eyes,
In the attic lived Simon Montgomery-Rose,
he had no hair, and was missing his toes.
The owner, a young girl called Tulip St Clements,
she had all her parts, but looked after the tenants.
Peter had found after 21 years,
A place where nobody thought about ears,
or eyes, or toes, or noses, or hair,
and if they were missing, nobody cared.
Together they sailed in a boat made of cork
held together with dough and an old toasting fork.
GLORY’S fiords and rivers and bays
would keep them amused for the rest of their days.
And the townsfolk of GLORY never did shout
“You’re weird, and you’re strange, and you’re freaking us out!”
They’d tip their hats and wave and then say
“What a beautiful boat” or “Have a nice day.”
Then one fine day about 1/4 past three,
they sailed past a house and a single pear tree.
“STOP!” yelled Peter at Tulip St Clements
“That house over there belongs to my parents!
I haven’t seen my mother for years
not since I was born without any ears.
I have no idea what she looks like at all
if she’s fat or she’s thin or she’s short or she’s tall.
There are so many things that I need to know
I’ll knock and the door, and see if she’s home.”
Peter knocked on the door a little afraid
of what she might look like and what she might say.
But no one answered, no one was there.
“Oh well” thought Peter “I’ll just eat a pear.”
So, he picked a fresh pear and sat himself down
by the hole where no one had ever been found.
And he ate the pear without hearing the sound
of his Mothers voice, under the ground.
“Help!” she screamed “I’ve been here for years!”
But smiley old Peter, didn’t have ears.
“Get me out please! Help me someone!
I’ve broken my legs and twisted my thumb
I can’t walk and can’t see, it’s dark and it’s damp
I have no sense of smell and I’m riddled with cramp
I’ve lost all my hair and I’ve lost all my toes
I’m freezing and shaking and wearing no clothes
I was beautiful once and I had lots of money
But then I gave birth to a boy that looked funny
And my good luck turned bad, after that day,
That I looked at my son, and then gave him away.
I curse the day I gave birth to that child
I hope he’s been mauled by bears in the wild!!”
But Peter heard nothing, and munched on his pear,
wondering why his Mum wasn’t there.
“Oh well” he thought “I really don’t care
whether or not she’s still living here,
I like living in GLORY and I love my new pals
and sailing with them on lakes and canals.
Wherever my mother might happen to be
I hope she’s as happy and peaceful as me.”
And he threw the core of his pear to the ground,
Which fell down the hole…and never was found.
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