How Lisa Got To Go To The Park

One Sunday which followed one Thanksgiving Day,
She needed somebody with whom she could play.
But she could not find anybody at all.
Perhaps all her friends were away at the mall,
Perhaps they were shopping for Christmas that season,
Or else it could be there was some other reason.
She called up her friends, Mary Sue and Colleen,
But all that she got was the answer machine.
When Lisa tried calling her friend, Libby Sprout,
Her friend has the flu and she couldn’t come out.
So Lisa was tired of being alone,
And knowing her friends couldn’t answer the phone.
Pretending alone simply doesn’t compare
With playing together with friends who are there.
Now she had an itch which could not be ignored,
For Lisa was tired and Lisa was bored.
And needing somebody to play with her too,
She went to ask Mommy for something to do.
But Mommy was busy as you might suppose,
With doing the dishes and washing the clothes,
Plus dusting and scrubbing and mopping the floor
And cooking and cleaning and some other chore.
And Daddy was where Lisa thought he would be.
He sat in the living room watching TV.
The table beside him had pretzels and chips,
A six pack of cola, two onion chip dips,
A bowl full of popcorn, a glass full of ice,
A shaker of salt and some barbecue spice.
The TV remote, which he held in his hand,
Was programmed to answer his every command.
If there was an ad and he needed some action,
He’d flick the remote to another attraction.
He flicked it to football. The home team was playing.
“This game is important,” her Daddy was saying.
Her Daddy was happy. She thought it was lame.
She didn’t know how to make sense of the game.
To Lisa the game was beyond comprehension,
And Lisa was looking for Daddy’s attention.
“The park should be nice on a day like today.
Since you need the walk and since I need to play,
If you have the time then I’d like you to bring me.
The park has a swing set. I want you to swing me.
We’ll walk in the park, give the pigeons some bread,
And watch as the joggers go jogging,” she said.
But she knew the answer before he replied,
“I’m watching the game. You can sit by my side.
We’ll watch it together and then we can go.”
But Lisa had known it would never be so.
She felt that her Dad was a bit of a cheat.
Right after the game there was supper to eat.
Once supper was over, the sky would be dark.
So she would not go with her Dad to the park.
In spite of the fact he was not being fair,
She sat with her Dad in his overstuffed chair
And quietly watched for a second or two.
Then wishing she had something better to do,
She asked if her Dad would be willing to play
A game of Go-Fish or a round of croquet.
But Daddy was watching his team playing ball.
It seemed that her Dad didn’t hear her at all.
She waved with her hands up in front of his head.
“Just wanted to see if you heard me,” she said.
Now Lisa’s a girl who would not be defeated.
She knew how to get the attention she needed.
She knew of a trick that would wake up her Dad.
She simply unleashed all the questions she had.
“Do you like hard candy? My favorite is lime.
My teacher says kids should have quality time.
And Mommy says you eat a junk food cuisine.
I don’t understand, Daddy. What do they mean?
Oh, why must you sit there just watching TV?
And why can’t you go for an outing with me?”
He’d never get going, or so it would seem,
But Lisa got help from the visiting team.
The visitors ran up a lopsided score,
So Daddy did not want to watch any more.
He turned off the set and he said, “That’s enough.”
He put away all of his junk food and stuff.
“I’ll get us our jackets. You get us some bread.
Let’s go for a walk in the park,” Daddy said.
They put on their jackets and left for the park
With plenty of hours before it got dark.
In spite of the afternoon blustery weather,
They both had a wonderful outing together.