THE MONKEY'S WEDDING

THE MONKEY'S WEDDING
(The Sun Shower Folk Lore)

The Monkey met his match by chance
At the Flamingos' mating dance,
Bright eyed, bushy-tailed caught his glance
He fell for the fox's sister.

Fox-trotting the vixen cheek to jaw,
He held her close with monkey paw.
Their friends were delighted as they saw
Monkey unable to resist her.

When Fox gave Monkey an admonition,
To curb his passionate disposition
Monkey sought and got his permission
To wed his foxy sister.

Mother Hen made the preparations,
For the grand wedding celebrations.
In pecking order, she issued invitations,
Enlisting the rooster to assist her.

Deep in the forest, where monkeys play,
Monkey handed Fox a bridal bouquet,
And a monkey's word that he'd always stay,
Devoted to the Fox's sister.

The bridal attendants met at dawn,
Prancing fillies and a very shy fawn
Fussed around the bride, while a swan
Sang till Mother Hen dismiss'd her.

Weaving flowers with silk of corn,
Black Widow made garlands to adorn
Foxy tail, flowing manes and a budding horn
'Twas the vixen's idea to enlist her.

The attendants lined up side by side,
Watching guests from far and wide
They watched Fox, with obvious pride,
Embrace and walk off with his sister.

The Cardinal led the wedding parade
Across open fields and forest glade.
With great aplomb, the bird displayed
His worth as bridal minister.

Fowl and birds of land and air,
Beasts from barnyard, field and lair,
Bugs and slugs and snails were there,
To sign the wedding register.

Handsome in top hat and a flowing cape,
Monkey arrived with his Best-Ape,
The wedding guests did gasp and gape,
To see such a dashing mister.

Beneath the tree, among roses and lilies,
Tended by one shy fawn and prancing fillies.
To bleating by the Nannies and the Billies
Into matrimony, a fox gave his sister.

When the wedding vows were said and done,
The Cardinal pronounced the pair as one.
'Kiss her,' the wedding guests called in fun.
The Monkey obliged them, and kiss'd her.

The congregation erupted in glee,
Monkey had joined a fox's family,
Who welcomed him in solidarity
Because they loved their sister.

A barrel of monkeys served the food;
Cats played fiddles, a fat cow moo-ed
Jazzy blues till a proud fox stood,
To toast a bride, his vixen sister.

Monkey too, rose to toast his bride.
Pledging a lifetime by her side,
His tender feelings, he could not hide
From each attending guest and list'ner.

The Sun came with his mate, Sky Blue.
To find Rain Showers in the queue,
Waiting to shake the paw of the Monkey who
Claimed the heart of the fox's sister.

They celebrated till the lights were low,
Before they saw the bright Rainbow,
Arrive with Moon and Stars in tow,
They thought they had miss'd her.

This was an auspicious occasion
Proclaimed throughout all creation,
To celebrate the quirky situation,
A trickster married another trickster.

Whene'er there's sunshine during rain,
'Tis a sun shower, meteorologists explain.
A Monkey's wedding, folk-lore maintain
Or a Fox's, which makes a mind twister.

On days when Sun and Rain Showers play,
To Zulus, it's a Monkey's wedding day.
The Japanese claim, it's a fox's; but I say.
'Tis Monkey marrying a fox's sister.


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ORIGINS OF SUN SHOWERS & THE MONKEY'S WEDDING

From Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia

A sunshower is an unusual meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the sun is shining.^[1] These conditions often lead to the appearance of a rainbow, if the sun is at a low enough angle.^[1] The term "sunshower" is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and parts of Britain, but is rarely found in dictionaries.^[2] Additionally, the phenomenon has a wide range of sometimes remarkably similar folkloric names in cultures around the world.^[3] A common theme is that of trickster animals, or the devil, getting married, although many variations of parts of this theme exist.


NOTE:
Since primary school days at Methodist Girls' School, I've always called a sun shower, the monkey's wedding. I have no recollection how I came about this knowledge of folk lore, but my sisters and other friends remember this term originating from my references whenever there is bright sunshine with sprinkling rain.
The most perfect rainbow, which made a perfect arc across the sky from one end of the horizon to another occurred during twilight while a sun shower was still falling. It remained until nightfall, which was some hours later, since the sun shower was falling around mid summer.
I have always thought it would be fun to write a poem about this quirkiness. This poem comes from all the times during the last thirty odd years, I had false starts and never quite finished the poem. However, I sat down seriously and the words just flowed, much of it from memory of the words used during the previous false starts. I tackled this project while I was in Singapore August 2009, and it has taken me over 3 weeks of tweaking to get to this draft.
Please be kind with your comments!