Beyond our barn, in yonder field,
We youngsters often played,
On land owned by our neighbor.
We couldn’t keep away!
We stealthily climbed his barb-wired fence.
(Me, I shimmied under.)
To arrive, where we called Down Below –
A land so filled with wonder.
Dirt hills to climb, snakes to catch,
A pond where fishes lay.
A ditch that oft’ held water,
On irrigating day.
Once, while wading in that water
And stomping up the mud,
We noticed something swimming
In the murky, bottom crud.
They looked like eels, so tiny.
We caught them with our hands.
When we held them, they were puffy,
Or could be stretched like rubber bands.
This next part is disgusting.
No mean to cause alarm.
But we could take those worms of slimy black,
And stick them to our arms!
Their heads held on like magnets.
We dangled them like fringe,
Found on a cowboy’s buckskin.
And it didn’t make us cringe.
It was fascinating playtime.
Strange creatures like no other.
We dumped our earthworms in a jar
And went up to show our mother.
“Look at this!” we shouted.
Our eyes were wide with glee.
“Mom, we’ve found a treasure,
The coolest worms you’ll ever see!”
She was very curious.
What had we captured in our jar?
So, we stuck those squirmers to our arms.
We must have looked bizarre!
Our Mom, I’ll give her credit,
Didn’t fill the air with screeches.
She bellowed, “Those aren’t worms, you fools!
Your puffy toys are leeches!”
“What’s a leech?” we asked naively.
We’d never heard the term.
To us, those dangles on our limbs
Were friendly little worms.
“You might think those leeches funny!
Those spawns from ‘neath the mud!
But while you keep them on your bodies,
They are drinking up your blood!!”
AHHH! We let out banshee hollers.
And moving fast as lightening,
Tore those critters from our arms,
Those parasites, now frightening!
I don’t remember what came next.
Did we give each leech a pitch?
I think Mom made us take them back
And dump them in the ditch.
But I learned a lesson, well that day.
Some things aren’t what they seem.
What looks like something innocent,
Can make your mother scream.
‘Cause there are vices in this world.
To bring you pleasure, is their goal.
Appearing harmless as an earthworm,
While they’re sucking up your soul!
By Dixie S. Cragun January 2023
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Harmless Earthworms
by Dixie Cragun
Dixie Cragun is a retired elementary teacher who has never stopped teaching. She volunteers to teach the art of story writing and telling. She devotes her time to her passion for family history and helping others search for their family stories.. She also enjoys painting, crafting, cardmaking, and playing music. Dixie has intertwined nature into her soul, which shows in most of her work.
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