When the teats on the cows
were so tight, and the balls
on the bulls were just right;
when the corn danced tango
on the ass of a pig;
when the rat consorted
with the goat and then birthed
ghoulish vermin, I woke!
image: Joan Miró, “The Tilled Field” (1923)
I love Dr. Seuss and read so many of his stories over and over to my kids when they were small, always using different voices as I read them. This one, “Horton Hatches the Egg” was one of their favorites (or was it one of my favorites?):
Björn is today’s host for dVerse’ Meet the Bar. Björn says:
So today I would like you to try your hands at anapestic tetrameter form, you can do it with rhymes or without. You can break up your 12 syllable lines, and add little flaws. It can be funny or stark, but listen to the hopscotch rhythm and after a while you’ll be hooked.
Tao Talk 
I wish you could hear me laughing out loud!Jackson think I’ve lost it. 🙂 Well done Lisa.
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Ha ha! I love the image of you laughing and Jackson staring at you. Much obliged Linda ❤
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This was so fun… I wonder how you feel when you wake up laughing.
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Bjorn, eat chocolate before bed and see 😉
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This is wonderfully surreal just like the Miró: I remember being enchanted by this painting as a kid, and I think it’s the first time I’ve seen it since then!
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Thank you, Ingrid. I adore the internet because you can find exactly the right image for whatever the need might be. So very awesome you remember this from your childhood and were enchanted by it then.
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So funny! I had a weird animal dream the other night, but not this surreal. 😀
The Miro is perfect.
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LOL thanks, Merril. I bet you weren’t dreaming in anapestic tetrameter 😉
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No, but I have dreamt poetry. And I have read words in my dreams–apparently that’s a poet thing. 😀
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I’ve dreamt words, numbers, names, and phrases. I’d love to dream a poem ❤
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😀
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Fun fun write Lisa, nicely nonsensical. Wonderful… 🙂
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Thank you, Rob!
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Milk chocolate I’m guessing by the opening line, but it was just a wild ride after that. I am grateful that you woke. And that you penned these lines (if not the animals)
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LOL, such a fun comment, D, thank you.
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Haha, this is good Li
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🙂 Thanks, Sadje.
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You’re welcome 😉
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This is too cute! I love your goolish nightmare!
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Thanks much, Dwight!
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A surrealistic Seuss! wonderful! (K)
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🙂 Thank you, K!
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Phantasmagorical, Lisa, and fantasitc fun. 🤗
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Thanks so much, Dora. As things started to go awry, so did the rhythm…
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A goat rat…that I would love to see…NOT… That was a good laugh before I go to bed.
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Thanks, Max! I wanted it to be strange but not logistical 🙂
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Well that was entertaining! The randomness of dreams is fascinating. You definitely captured it here. 🙂
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Thanks, Mish! You’re right, you just never know with dreams.
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Dreams become stand-up comedy artists 🙂 packed with punch lines.
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Reena, I love your description, thank you 🙂
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🙂
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I love the Miro painting – but what a dream, Lisa! Colourful nonsense with a touch of the macabre.
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Thank you, Kim 🙂 It did take a turn didn’t it.
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I’m still smiling and laughing
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Ha ha! Good!
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Just too much fun was had here. I struggled with mine, wanting to create a semblance of 12 syllable lines. Many of you went with the Seuss limerick version. I wish I had; loved this.
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Thanks, Glenn. It’s a form I’d like to try again but on a more serious subject, as the ones Bjorn and Linda wrote turned out so well.
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The Miro goes perfectly with your funny phantasmasgorical poem. Loved it.
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Thank you! It took me a bit to find the right image to go with it.
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Sorry, that should read ‘phantasmagorical’!
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OMG this is so funny / creative, I could roll around on the floor laughing. GREAT write.
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Helen, I’m glad it made you smile 🙂
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