Chicken in the Rain

There once was a chicken
Who stood out in the rain…
And the rain was stickin’
From freezing, ‘twas plain…

A rooster it was, not a hen,
A monarch of his domain,
His regal realm, a poultry pen,
Open to sky, and open rain...

And soon he wore a coat,
A coat he believed so nice!
But the coat so cool, you’ll note,
Was rain, frozen to ice…

The rooster chicken did crow:
"Cockle doodle doo,
                    O do, do look at me!
I've a shiny coat to show,
And on my noodle too,
                    a crown for you to see..."
  
And with his beak asmile,
He spoke in chicken talk,
    "Buck, buck, b'gawk...
    Mine's the latest style...
    "See, what's on my head,
     Atop my comb of red"!

Then into the coop he went,
And perched on a trough inside...
He stood, with his head unbent,
And looked about, with pride!

But soon his coat and crown did drip,
To form a puddle aside the trough...
And soon some patches, unsewn did slip,
And his crown and coat...they melted off!

From out their beak and throat:
The hens did chicken cluck:
“Your cool and shiny coat,
Didn’t stay stickin',
            didn’t stay stuck…”

        *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

A Dog in a Log

There was an old dog
That followed a fox
Which ran in a log,
All hollow, like a box…

And coming behind,
Was that dog,
That just had dined...

He ran in the log,
But ran out of luck;
He'd eaten like a hog,
In the log, got stuck!

The red fox ran out,
Ran over the hill;
The dog's poor snout,
Could smell him still…

He did howl and bark,
And woofed and woofed!
In the hollow there dark
He knew he'd goofed...

His canine belly was fat,
He couldn't wait until it shrunk;
But in there came a polecat,
Another name for Critter Skunk…

O me, O my!
The dog did sigh…
I wish I could hurry
             And shrink,
For that skunk, so furry,
             Sure does stink!      – John Riedell
 

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Site Last Updated on 10/02/10