SQUEEZE PLAY

It was a quiet fire station,
Gus was taking obedience lessons.
(To make sure he reached his destination,
We had him go with fireman Preston.)

They caught the Metro Red Line,
Airport Express, route ninety-eight.
Then they transferred to the Green Line,
And kept on riding past the lake.


They scrambled to their feet,
When at the school that bus did stop.
But then they ran across the street,
And ducked into a donut shop.

The pastries that Dalmatian chose
Had icing white with chocolate dots.
Preston ordered donut holes
With coffee black and steaming hot.


He had the whole day off from duty,
So he took Gus to a baseball game.
Then they caught a matinee movie,
And hung out at the bowling lane.

Gus’s eyes were drooping,
And it was time to take his nap.
Preston, too, was sleepy,
And said, “We'd better get on back.”


When they got home to the station,
They found a note upon the door.
“Don’t forget the celebration,
The parade route starts at half past four.

Please bring the hook and ladder truck,
And meet us at the courthouse square.”
“It’s four-oh-nine! We’re out of luck!
How will we ever make it there?”


They high-tailed it from the station,
But the traffic was congested.
Preston grew impatient,
And to no avail that dog protested.

Gus spotted them a shortcut,
But it was blocked by small orange cones.
Preston refused to let that thwart them,
And he drove through the construction zone.


They blasted through a rocky pile,
And some freshly poured cement.
Then they shifted into overdrive,
And through the mud they went.

They made it to the courthouse,
With still a couple minutes left.
But they missed something important:
Their truck was now a filthy mess!


Preston drove it to the mini-mart,
And as he neared the carwash bay,
Gus barked at him, “This isn’t smart!
We'll never fit! There’s just no way!”

Gus closed his eyes and trembled,
For he couldn’t bear to watch.
Yet somehow fireman Preston
Got them in without a scratch.


Gus put his paws on the controls,
He thought he'd be a helpful pup.
Preston shouted, “No, Gus, No!
That's the switch for Ladder Up!”

They broke right through the car wash roof
As the ladder lifted off the truck.
It was a terrible, awful, horrible goof,
And now their engine’s good and stuck!


I woke up from my dream to find,
That fire truck was me.
God made me good so I can brightly shine,
But I get covered with debris.

There’s no car wash that can clean me,
And I’ll never do it by myself.
But I know that He’ll restore me,
When I call on Him for help.


David J Allen
March 21, 2005


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