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How Aloysius Learned to Fly

One day in the great Rocky Mountains,
Beneath the broad roof of the sky,
Where gurgles the soda pop fountains,
Some ospreys were learning to fly.

They dived from their nest in the branches
On to the soft earth far below,
But Allie was taking no chances
And when pop insisted said, "No!"

"Oh come Aloysius,
This fish is delicious,"
Cried papa in honest dispair,
But while pop was preaching
Young Allie was screeching,
"I can't, I'm afraid of the air!"

As time wandered by it grew colder,
And Allie grew hungry indeed,
For as Aloysius grew older,
He also grew harder to feed.

His parents had fled to the southlands,
And Allie was left all alone,
Alas he grew thinner and thinner,
In time he was just skin and bone.

Then one day a young osprey found him,
Hungry and cold in his nest,
She put her soft wings gently 'round him
And covered him with her warm breast.

"What's your name?" asked Aloysius,
"Your beauty is that of a star."
"My first name," she answered, "Is Hedy,
My last name," she said, "Is Lamar."

All through the long winter she fed him,
And slowly he regained his health,
Her love and encouragement led him
To once more have faith in himself.

Then one fateful day in the springtime,
To beautiful Hedy's dismay,
A nasty old osprey named Rudolph
Attempted to steal her away.

"Aloysius," she cried, "You must save me,
This villain endangers my life;
I fear he intends to enslave me,
And make me his unhappy wife."

Forgetting his terror of flying,
Brave Allie sprang to the attack,
With screams of rage loud and defying,
Sank his claws in Rudolph's back.

The cowardly Rudolph defeated,
Bemoaning his desolate fate,
With curses abjectly retreated,
And Allie flew back to his mate.

And now in the great Rocky Mountains,
beneath the broad roof of the sky,
Where gurgles the soda pop fountains,
Some ospreys are learning to fly.

And when little Allie gets flurried,
And cries that he cannot fly that far,
His parents are not a bit worried,
They know he will find his Lamar.


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