Fierce, Proud, Scary

A.A. Milne wrote

Now We Are Six

When I was one I had just begun.
When I was two I was nearly new.
When I was three I was not quite me.
When I was four I was not much more.
When I was five I was just alive.
But now I'm six.
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now
For ever and ever.

And I wrote

Now We Are Three

Today I'm a pirate
Fierce, proud, scary!
Tomorrow, round and red
I'll be a cherry.

Yesterday it wasn't me
Who got out of my bed.
It was a cow instead.

I went into the kitchen
And mooed for some toast.
Mommy cow smiled at me.
She understands how cows can be.

When I'm a bat
I flap my wings
And let my tongue hang down.

Bats fly in crazy circles
And their tongues are fuzzy brown.

One day I didn't move at all.
I was a leaf.  Green and small.
I wasn't fierce.  I wasn't tall.
Just very leafy me,
Growing quietly.

Sometimes I roar and show my claws
And Grandpa says, "Now who are you?"
A lion doesn't say his name,
So I just roar and shake my mane.

Last week when we went to the store
I was a worm upon the floor.

Mommy looked at me and sighed.

It's hard to wait for a worm.
They don't walk;  they squirm.

I can be a frog.  Or a barking dog.
A bug in a bog.

But today I'm a pirate.

Fierce, proud, scary.

Tomorrow round and still,
I'll be a cherry.