Dickie found a broken spade

And said he'd dig himself a well;

And then Charles took a piece of tin,

And I was digging with a shell.

Then Will said he would dig one too.

We shaped them out and made them wide,

And I dug up a piece of clod

That had a little worm inside.

We watched him pucker up himself

And stretch himself to walk away.

He tried to go inside the dirt,

But Dickie made him wait and stay.

His shining skin was soft and wet.

I poked him once to see him squirm.

And then Will said, "I wonder if

He knows that he's a worm."

And then we sat back on our feet

And wondered for a little bit.

And we forgot to dig our wells

Awhile, and tried to answer it.

And while we tried to find it out,

He puckered in a little wad,

And then he stretched himself again

And went back home inside the clod.