You Gotta Keep Trying

Mum, I can’t launch Floppy to Space

Now that smile has been wiped off my face

I’ve tried a catapult, or a slingshot will do,

But they’re all great failures, what shall I do?

Never give up, you gotta keep trying

Stand up straight and banish your crying

We’ve got a rabbit to send into Space

Now make her part of the human race!

But how? Look, Mum, if you must know

I went to Space with Floppy a long time ago

She made a tough decision and I watched her leave

In the past, all my goals were achieved

You could shoot her up in a skyrocket

Or let her stuff planets into your pocket

You could make planets along the sidewalk

Or draw stars with yellow chalk

Oh! I know what to do,

I’ll draw a plan for Floppy too

A little tweak here, a little tweak there

Some little tweaks everywhere,

And viola! Would you believe and see

What I made for little Floppy

A rocket to launch her into Space

A trip to Mars, now that’s the case

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…BLAST OFF!

Wait, this machine isn’t working

Maybe a button needs inserting.

Oh wait, I get it, it’s made of cardboard,

I guess there’ll be no room for astronauts on board

I wonder what else I shall do?

I know, a rocket, Floppy, just for you!

This time I’ll use a firework’s sparks

By that time it’s getting dark!

10…9…8…7…

Ah-ah-ah!

Bingo, you mustn’t set it alight

It’s meant to go off in the night

Only grown ups should use these

They’re fireworks, they’re not pinwheel cheese!

I think I should put it back inside

Bingo, you continue playing outside

What am I to do? I can’t do it!

Can Floppy go to Space? I can’t prove it

Now Floppy and I are just lying there

Looking up at the sky so rare

Wondering what’s beyond the clouds

Pondering why we sing aloud

Finding out what we have found

Why, why, WHY?!

Bingo!

Yes, mum?

All these attempts are not your fault

You try and try but they all moult

Why don’t you use your imagination instead?

The best games come from inside your head

They don’t use fireworks or dangerous tools

You play with your toys and make up the rules

Remember the arrival of Pixar’s Lightyear?

All I know is that during its premiere

They launched a Sox soft toy among the stars

They cost thousands of pounds in thousands of money jars

But your games don’t require money or power

Instead, they just require the happiest hour!

Oh yeah! Now I know,

Off to Space Floppy and I will go!

I’ll paint a cardboard box and cut out some holes

Find a space helmet with lots of little holes

And off Floppy and I go into Space

Finding a new alien race

Looking for black holes and running across planets

As for fireworks, Mum will ban it!

I’m using my ‘magination, that’s the key

To send Floppy to Space for reality!

The sun’s going down, my game is done

I grab Floppy and inside I come

To have some milk and a cookie to chew

All I feel is there is nothing to do

I brush my teeth with Bluey by my side

And then under the covers I hide

As Mum tucks me up, safe and snug

Then I give her a bedtime hug

You will play your Space game again.

Yes, I’ll take Floppy to Space tomorrow again,

And when I go to Kindy tomorrow morning,

I’ll play it with Lila without warning

She is my best friend after all,

What are friends to pick you up when they fall?

As Mum leaves the room and switches off the light,

I close my eyes very tight

And dream the soothing, miraculous dreams

Of dark skies and moonbeams

Of Floppy and me, hopping and jumping

From star to star and leaping bumping

When I wake up, the morning has come,

It’s off to Space for everyone!