He Who Dies with the Most Acorns

OK, another poem from the past. This one was inspired by a bumper sticker that was popular at the time that said, “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

ACORNS

There once was a squirrel,
Who got in his mind,
To get every acorn,
Of every last kind.

A huge hollow oak tree,
Weighing more than a ton,
Is where he settled down,
To build his kingdom.

Day in and day out,
He went off to look,
And if he saw an acorn,
That acorn he took.

He cared not if he,
Robbed another squirrel’s home,
For he wanted all acorns,
To be just his own.

This went on through spring,
And through mid-summer too,
“Winter is coming,
Oh, what will we do?!”

Cried the other fine squirrels,
As they gazed on his tree,
Standing firmly there,
Oblivous to the breeze.

He say up on top,
Way up high like a king,
When along came a breeze,
Into air did he swing.

He fell to his death,
The poor little guy,
The others moaned for a moment,
Thought they didn’t know why.

He had done all that work,
And had done it in vain,
As the others bounded up,
All staking their claim.

The moral to this tale,
That I hope I have taught,
When you’re old and look back,
Will you like all you sought?

After all:

He who dies with the most acorns wins…. nothing!

 

Luke 9:25 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his very self?”

(still copying from the hand written notebook)

Wouldn’t it be better to have nothing, and yet be right with God and man?
Let’s put the Lord and Others above the “acorns” in our life.

Karl Bastian, 1985

OK, back to 2007. I’ve always thought it would be fun to make this poem into a children’s picture book… but the dying squirrel might be too traumatic for kids, and the lesson is more for adults, so this is probably good enough. But I’ll end with this thought…

What are the acorns in your life and distract you from what really matters?

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Kidologist

Karl Bastian is the founder of Kidology.org, the creator of ToyboxTales.com, and the author of OrderoftheAncient.com. His personal website is Kidologist.com He is Big Kid with a passion for equipping and encouraging those who minister to children.

One Comment:

  1. Again the rhyming is amazing! Aside from the message I found this funny.

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