The Further Adventures of Chuck and Bill
Chuck and Bill had no way to get home,
So together they started to roam.
They took a big chance
And headed toward France
Braving the Channel’s seafoam.
Once in France the friends kept far from town,
Neither wanting run-ins with the crown
The two didn’t know
That long, long ago
Robespierre brought the royal heads down.
While traversing a back-country road,
Chuck and Bill met a kindly, French toad.
His name was Jean-Claude
And his wife was called Maud
And their warm hospitality showed.
So the wanderers stayed there a while
To enjoy the provincial lifestyle.
But on the fourth day
(with their welcome outstayed)
Amphibian hosts grew hostile.
To where would the two travel next?
Would they ever find locals un-vexed?
Bill and Chuck missed their home
And the soft, sandy loam
How to get there left both friends perplexed.
By the weekend the two’d hatched a plan
They called up an eagle named Dan
An ex-pat from Boston
He’d fly them to Austin
Where they’d catch a ride home in a van.
But Dan had a flying disfunction
A broken direction assumption
Dan thought he knew best
And flew east, ‘stead of west
Till he crashed in Japan with compunction.
Now Dan was laid up for a week
With a broken wing and a scuffed beak.
Bill and Chuck knew
There was little to do
So they searched Tokyo for antiques.
In a dusty shop filled with old wares
They found a gray box on a chair
What was hidden inside
Made their eyes open wide
But it didn’t quite give them a scare.
The box held and old mengu mask
And a small drinking glass and a flask
In the flask was some tea
That was old as the sea
“What’s it for?” the two friends did ask.
Well the shopkeeper wasn’t quite sure.
He had never seen either before.
With a shrug and a wink,
He drank the old drink
And grew wings that allowed him to soar.
So Chuck and Bill took the last drop
After paying the keeper of shop
Dan had just enough
Of the magical stuff
For his wing to heal up with a pop!
They re-started their journey around
And were now United States bound
They stopped on O’ahu
(Outside Honolulu)
And caught rays with an ornery hound.
The next day they took to the skies,
Turtle, duck, eagle and pies.
The pies were a snack
That Chuck and Bill packed
Along with some other supplies.
Dan was exhausted, but soon,
By the light of a now waxing moon,
The friends made their landfall
And played them some handball
At a western coast hipster commune.
From there, the trip back was a romp.
Lots of fun with almost no pomp.
But mile by mile
Though it took a good while
Bill and Chuck made it back to the swamp.
They expected a great big to-do,
A celebration-y hullabaloo
But to their surprise
They met with blank eyes
And swamp-mates asking “Who are you?”
