Fast Jack & Tom

Please tell me, "Is there greener grass
that we have been denied
across life's busy highway?
What's on the other side?"
---
Fast Jack, the Rabbit, wanted more
than his ol' world could bring.
So started, he, across life's road
with optimistic sing.

And Tom, the Turtle, thought he too
could find his life's reward,
so set his mind to follow Jack
...as big, bad engines roared.

Now Jack was quick and darted o'er
the line that marked the tar,
whizzing past a left rear tire
then under low sports car.

Then Tom, the Turtle, had began.
He lifted one front toe,
but pulled it back quite quickly 'cause,
he couldn't start his 'go'.

There patiently, he held his ground
beside that busy road.
And then he heard a chuckle
with a taunt from Timmy Toad.

But patiently, he waited there
and almost fell asleep...
if not for noisy tires
from a muddy off-road jeep.

Now half-way 'cross the highway
that 'ol rabbit zagged his wrath,
between the bumpers back and forth.
He zigged a crazy path.

About this time Tom turtle saw
his chance to get across,
but if he wasn't quick enough
he'd end up 'turtle sauce'.

His feet, he shifted into gear.
His legs were filled with pow'r!
His speeds went unrecorded, but
...I've heard "nine stones per hour".

Hence, gap between the traffic
wasn't big enough for Tom.
A Cadillac that fast approached
was driven by a mom.

The tire on that Cadillac
caught edge of Tom's hard shell.
It flipped him forty feet through air
and things did not go well...

Tom did a dozen somersaults,
then landed on his back.
He heard a scream, "Get off of me!"
that came from... yes, Fast Jack.

Well, Jack was somewhat angered
when a semi smacked the two.
It threw him back across the road
and spun Tom dizzy too.

Then Tom rolled off the other side.
Both learned life's road was hard
with Tom and Jack on either side -
frightened, sore and scarred.

The moral to this poem is that
Jack had gotten meaner.
And like the fence dividing lawns,
Tom found the grass, not greener.

Now isn't it a futile life
that Jack and Tom had tried,
despite abundant grass God gave
to each on either side?

Our pride, greed, lust and envy too,
are like Tom's somersaults.
The pain and bandages received,
are really our own faults.

This poem was a finalist in the September 2015 poetry contest