THE MANGO TREE AND THE MAGIC M

THE MANGO TREE AND THE MAGIC MUSHROOM

 

One day the King Alphonso mango tree

Captivated by his many golden mango kings

Growing upon his young sprawling branches and twigs

Declared as he stood proudly unyielding and unbending

To any others orders or gestures of friendship

Most sourly and grudgingly

"I am the best ever seen or grown

And content with my precious golden kings so many

I need no friend or passing showers

Pattering raindrops, lightning bolts or thunder storms

That in vain falls upon me in plenty

Those greenhorn chirping pests

Birds, crickets and grasshopper grigs

That grips my branches once a while

With their sharp beaks, forked talons or slender long limbs

Or their merry chirps always seem to annoy

My golden treacle tresses of sugar dandy kings

With so much honey inside"

 

Yet insolent as ever he cautioned 

Every breathing gust of wind

Howling through his evergreen leaves and branches

'Whoosh Wheee Whee Pheee'

Were to him all fibs and freebees

Even the bumble bees and stinging wasps

The ants and cloying stick insects

Were warned not to steal his arrums of delight

The scented perfume of King Alphonso's wafting mangoes

Through their sights

He thought he looked the best

Amongst all the surrounding trees and shrubs

Drumsticks, Guavas, Chickoo trees and Custard Apples

The Bodhi, the Buddh, the Ashoka

Or even the most 'Shuddh!'

Gloriously pure honey bee hives

That collected on some of his stray branches

Even the frogs that croaked beneath his sprawling roots

Were forbidden to play with his golden Alphonso's 

Crowns that fell and soon turned to flora and fauna

The yellow and green frogs got no golden ball they could jump

And play with

Even the crawling ants and bugs were 

Shunned to take a bite of that precious

Serum that oozed from his delightful fruits

Growing ripe and with cheeks so rosy and juicy still!

 

He called all the guests unwelcome

On his magnificent golden tree and trunk

Alas! The butterflies that flittered

Found his company rather boring

One fine day on his young branches

Stretching so strong and wide

Yielded a soft, tender hearted, brown and white 

Speckled mushroom

As mushy and sentimental as could be

Unlike the Mango tree who frowned, fretted

 And grimaced all the time

As the magic mushroom grew and grew

 It welcomed all the fairies hoods

And other bright flickering sprites of the forest nearby

To seat beside the musty magic mushroom house

Every little pixie and elf took time

To sit and chat sometimes atop its musty stool

Exchanging wee tit bits, to tête-à-tête

And take a view from above the tree top century King

Valleys, mountains and farmlands

Cattle, sheep, shepherds and maize houses

Among tall ferns and grassy meadows

Bowing low to the flowers and pebbles

Beside babbling brooks

Divine dragon flies like helicopters buzzed

Fire flies like torches flicked

And flickered

Bees bobbed a curtsy as they flit

Around the mesmerising magic mushroom house

As if it wore a witch's cap

All white, brown and musty speckled

 

The magic mushroom was so different

 Than the proud golden Alphonso tree

Yet chided harshly the golden tree

To the mushy mushroom growing from it

Like a witches cap so peculiarly and queer

So weird and attractive a magic showpiece

"I have no time for fruitless gossip and unyielding tittle-tattle

By a useless white cap mushroom on my golden tree

So many guests come flitting past and spoil

The view of my golden glowing King Alphonso's

Growing on my tree

Their crowns are full of gold

Their cheeks full of juice

The flesh sweet to lips

So many pluck abundantly in their baskets

Whilst you so mushy and sentimental

I have no time for your fancy whimsical parties

Of fairy folks all around you night and day

Summer or winter

Who engage in worthless babble and childish gossip

All the time"

He glowered continuing the spiel of his tall talk

Rather haughtily

"Instead I admire all day my gleaming golden Alphonso Kings

Unlike you all brown, musty, mushy sentimental

White and spotted like a witches cap"

He mused

The musty, mushy, sentimental mushroom

Remained quiet and calm

And refused to reply to the angry, vain and arrogant

 Golden mango tree

 

Yet the mushy sentimental magic mushroom

Invited all fairy folks

And invent

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ed games to play upon King Alphonso's branches

The golden mango tree just watched with a smirk

And refused to oblige them as his friends

All he did was complain and carp

Grumble, natter and chatter

To have such a musty friend he 

Could do without any way!

 

Then one fine day

The musty, sentimental magic mushroom's

Mushy days had come to an end

It sadly died and disappeared

Vanished into the silent night

No more was its witch cap sitting 

Aglow upon the golden tree

Inviting fairy parties or elves meetings

Or ants or wasps or bees buzzing

Or butterflies flitting like aeroplanes

The golden Alphonso tree felt bored 

And bleated beating his chest

With his spread out straddling branches

In sadness and misery aloud……. Weeping and wailing most sorrowfully 

"O' what have I done?

I have lost my dearest friend

The mushy, musty sentimental magic mushroom

Maybe it died of a broken heart

And couldn't take my proud lamentations

And felt it did not require any more my bossiness"

Like a calf or like a sheep or a goat

He bleated and bleated

For the honey moon dipped a dapple silver grey

In the dark teal and purple tinged sky 

And no more did the cow moo

Whilst grazing beneath it

With funny rhymes that fairies invented

And recited around the magic mushroom

"Hey Diddle Diddle

The cow jumped over the moon

And O' what fun

The dish ran away with the spoon"

All his King Alphonso dishes

Swayed for the sad golden tree

Up and down his heavy boughs

Heavy laden with despair

Like a dancer moves his eyes and brows

In Bharatnatyam

Or handlebars of a clown's moustache 

That twitches up and down

In a circus pandemonium

No one was there now

To recite magic lines with fairies, imps, elves

And busy goblins

Beneath the magic mushroom of the mango tree

 

April, May soon around the corner

The Alphonso kings were picked and plucked

Trundled and cart wheeled in a wheel barrow

And the mango tree now did grieve so very very much

For he was without the sweet, sentimental

Mushy, musty, magic mushroom friend

Every day he wept and cried for being so vain and selfish

Proudly proclaiming he could live without anyone

For he was the very best golden tree

Till finally one day did a strange Starlight fairy appear

Full of magic and light

Around the sad and grieving golden tree

Wearing the same witches cap of the funny mushroom

The golden tree

Had so much teased about

She stood on the young branch the very same spot

And uttered a magic remedy for his broken tree heart

"Booshh, Bibbissh. Bewitch

Swish, Swoosh, Switch

Myself into that strange musty, tender-hearted

 Mushy, sentimental

Companion for the golden Alphonso tree

Swoosh, Swish, Switch

Booshh, Bibbissh, Bewitch"

 

Lo! Behold she stood a magic mushroom again

Upon his welcoming branches

Inviting fairy folks and dances

Parties and elf meetings

Greetings and fleetings

Of stinging wasps, flitting butterflies

Dandelion puffs, hairy gnomes, crawling ants and furry goblins

Once more again

Breeze howled and rattled

Showers of raindrops

Pattered and drizzled

Even clouds filled with lightning bolts and thunderstorms

Were most welcome

Once more again

Bleating and mooings

Of cows, calves and sheep

Under the silver gray moon

Fairy mushroom with her witches cap

With rhymes and riddles invented

Were recited soon again by gay fairies and jolly elves

Every bird and chirping pests

Like sparrows, grasshopper grigs 

Chirping critter crickets, cloying stick insects 

And chattering dragonflies

Played around the merry branch

Beneath their mysterious magic mushroom friend

Even the yellow and green frogs played with the old Alphonso

Kings gold balls of mangoes that dropped to the ground

Near his spread out roots on the lawn

Hurray! The golden Alphonso kings

On his branches and stems smiled and grinned

Ear to ear

No more hiding the magic mushrooms talent

Amongst his copious wonders

 Fruits of sweet labour

For the golden Alphonso tree was happy a lark

As could be

With his musty, mushy, sentimental garden magic mushroom fairy!