The Ballad Of The Wasps

At the dump near our flat, our old flat one Sunday
I went out exploring with my dad
There were mountains of that stuff
That gets tossed away
When people don't know what they've had.

Broken chairs, old appliances
Dishes, debris
Were taking their naps in the Sunday sun
Suddenly I felt a jab in my knee
And Dad shouted, "Coraline! Run!"

Wasps!
Thousands of wasps filled the air
I high-tailed it over the hill
Dad? Dad, silly Dad
Stayed there standing... Perfectly... Still
Getting stung what would prove
To be thirty-two stings
We counted that night in the bath
Giving me time to move far away
From the things while Dad took the brunt of their wrath.

Wasps!
Millions of wasps filled the air
But they didn't scare him, until
The next day when he had to go back over there
His glasses had dropped on the hill.

He said he wasn't brave, for he wasn't afraid
While watching me running away
He knew he had to save me
His choice had been made
He'd only been brave the next day.