I open my eyes and lift up my head;

my goal feels so close yet it is so far ahead.

For I’ve been inching my way for hours and hours

dodging and sliding past all of the flowers.

 

Alas! There it is! Sitting atop the hill!

The greenest and juiciest leaf in Brazil.

 

I put my head down and push with all my might;

no one will beat me to it, not without a fight.

 

I turn to get a glance at what is behind me,

and I see the black swarm of the great ant army.

 

Not far behind the army are the millipedes,

only a few legs away from the centipedes.

 

My glance then shifts to the sky

where I see the ladybugs and gnats fly.

 

Their buzzing grows

and the ants form rows

 

They do not want to be beat by little old me,

the caterpillar who’s never been so far from its tree.

 

Lucky for me I arrive

before the bees have a chance to leave their hive.

 

The leaf is all mine

and I still have time

to brag to the other bugs and make them whine.

 

I turn to the crowd

and yell extremely loud,

 

“I have beat you all!”

and all the pedes fall.

 

“You do not stand a chance!”

and there goes all the ants.

 

“Say goodbye to your leaf!”

and the ladybugs and gnats were beat.

 

Now it is time to eat my leaf.

My journey will soon be complete.

 

I do my happy dance called the samba

until I find my leaf gone  ¡Ay, Caramba!

 

For mi amigo Juan caterpillar has won the race

and with the leaf in his mouth he wears a prideful face.

 

Juan must’ve had more will,

for he  hustled his way faster up the hill.

 

He had been working harder than I to get the prize.

Now a determined look glares in my eyes.

 

Next time I know I will work harder.

Hey! What’s that over there? A Poppy-Papaver?