In which I nearly meet the Heffalump again

Down a dark hole, I was thinking about
the different ways that I could get out,
when it fell on me – it had fur and a snout –
and said aloud with a Pooh-like air
‘A Very Bad Accident to Pooh Bear’.

I called out ‘Pooh! I’m underneath you,
trapped in a hole without a view –
I think it’s a Heffalump trap for Poohs!’
I felt myself tremble, I felt my ears twitch,
but Pooh was brave in that deep, dark ditch.

Faced with a Heffalump that says ‘Ho-ho!’
humming was the answer that came to Pooh,
a bear who always knows what to do.
So I tra-la-la’d and tiddle-um-tummed
while we waited for Christopher Robin to come.

We’d not been long in the deep, dark pit,
when a voice said ‘Ho-ho’ at the top of it
and I jumped with surprise, six inches and a bit.
‘It’s the Heffalump!’ I thought, then swallowed the fear –
my courageous friend Winnie the Pooh was near.

So as none of the words would stick, I hummed
and then tra-la-la’d at the Heffalump,
which replied with rum-tum-tum-tiddle-um
in a voice that sounded like  Pooh’s
when it really should have been ‘Ho-ho’.

I thought I had better say ‘Ho-ho!’ to him
and the Heffalump, just like Christopher Robin,
said ‘How did you get there?’ and I answered him:
‘This s a trap where I ho and I hum
while waiting for the ho-ho to come’.

Pooh looked up. He shouted, ‘Hallo
Christopher Robin! It’s time to go.’

Kim M. Russell, 2018

Image result for Piglet by E.H. Shepard Pinterest
Image found on Pinterest

My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads: Rhubarb

Today Paul is thinking about childhood characters from books, TV and film that had some subconscious influence on him. He asks about the characters that might have found a home in our psyche and would like us to write a poem from their point of view. I have fond memories of A.A. Milne’s poems and stories and chose to write about one of my favourite character’s adventures.

30 thoughts on “In which I nearly meet the Heffalump again”

    1. My grandmother used to read A.A. Milne’s poetry to me when I was very little and it stuck with me more than Winnie the Pooh. But I got a kick out of the book The Tao of Pooh and it got me reading the original stories again. Piglet will always be my favourite.

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    1. It is, Debi! But I rewrote it from the point of view of Piglet. It’s when they are all looking for Small and Pooh falls into the gravel pit and finds Piglet. In the end, Small is stuck to Pooh’s back.

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  11. This was a fun read, Kim. I missed out somehow in my childhood and did not read Winnie the Pooh. Was Heffalump in the movie? I understand he was an elephant to be dreaded but I would like to meet him.
    ..

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    1. Pooh and Piglet never actually meet a Heffalump, which is only in their imagination. When Piglet dreams about one, Shepard’s illustrations depict it as elephant-like – probably similar to one of Christopher Robin’s toys, like all the other characters in the book.

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