John Steinbeck
Biff, The Friendly Purple Bear
Now, I was a play horse you pull with a string
On wheels where my legs should be
And he was the boy who pulled the toy
Around the treehouse tree
For the longest time there was just us two
The boy and the horse, that was me
Until the day the purple bear
Came to live in the treehouse tree
Well, it was early one spring, I was tied by my string
In a field of the make-believe farm
When around the house, the boy and the bear
Came marching arm in arm
"This is Biff", said the boy to me
"He's the friendly purple bear"
And Biff stooped down and stroked my mane
With a paw of purple hair
"Biff has come to stay", said the boy
"And pretend with me and you
And he can do anything that a boy and a toy
Believe purple bears can do"
And taking the cue, Biff bowed from the waist
Then leaped and clicked his heels
Then down to the ground in three somersaults
That ended in four cartwheels
He whirled and twirled, and stood on his head
The boy giggled and slapped his side
And I laughed so hard, that wooden tears
Rolled out of my painted eyes
So Biff came to stay in the treehouse tree
And long days came without end
For the boy and the toy and the purple bear
And serious games of pretend
Like the cowboy game with the boy as sheriff
And Biff as the bandit king
That always ended with all the outlaws
In the jail with a long rope swing
And the great pony race, that lasted for days
Around the flower bed
Ah... that was a tough one, but lucky for us
I won by a wooden head
And the day we entered the pirates' cove
Beneath the bush on the alley side
Biff with the sword, and paper hat
And a patch across the purple eye
Well, there was always a danger of outlaws
Or Indians, or creatures from outer space
And without the courage of the three of us
We might have lost the whole place
But we were bound by the code of the musketeers
And such golden hours were shared
By the freckle-faced boy and the wooden horse toy
And Biff the purple bear
But as summer's passed, the boy grew taller
And his voice took a strange new ring
And his visits were few to the treehouse tree
And never to the long rope swing
Biff the purple bear grew sad
As he climbed down the treehouse tree
He shook his head, "I'm afraid" he said
"He's forgotten you and me
It seems, oh wooden friend of mine
We outlasted his boyhood years"
Then he turned and was gone across the lawn
In a trail of purple tears
Now I've been put to pasture in the old treehouse
But at times I've seen from afar
Strange tall boy who mows the lawn
And tinkers about his old car
But just today I looked past the house
And down the sidewalk, I swear
Came a new little boy with a wooden horse toy
Followed by a purple bear