In Dread of Little Birds

Never sleep with the window open!

Late I heard a little bird
boom CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!
Why was I rudely stirred
from my sleep, sleep, sleep?

I rose to close the window sash
in fear of pending doom.
‘Twas too late, the slashing beak's
already in the room!

Author's note: ▶︎

Second place in the October, 2020 round of:

FORUM

Monsters Under The Bed  (18+) Nursery Rhymes have taken a dark turn... #2231795 by Lilli ☕

Prompt: turn this nursery rhyme into a 'monster under the bed'.

Once I saw a little bird
Come hop, hop, hop;
So I cried, “Little bird,
Will you stop, stop, stop?”

And was going to the window
To say, “How do you do?”
But he shook his little tail,
And far away he flew.


Once I Saw a Little Bird was first published in “An Alphabet of Old Friends” by Walter Crane in 1874.