He scattered tarantulas over the roads, Put thorns on the cactus and horns on the toads, He sprinkled the sands with millions of ants So the man who sits down must wear soles on his pants. He lengthened the horns of the Texas steer, And added an inch to the jack rabbit's ear; He put mouths full of teeth in all of the lakes, And under the rocks he put rattlesnakes. He hung thorns and brambles on all of the trees, He mixed up the dust with jiggers and fleas; The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion stings, The mosquito delights you by buzzing his wings. The heat in the summer's a hundred and ten, Too hot for the Devil and too hot for men; And all who remain in that climate soon bear Cuts, bites, and stings, from their feet to their hair. He quickened the buck of the bronco steed, And poisoned the feet of the centipede; The wild boar roams in the black chaparral; It's a hell of a place that we've got for a hell. He planted red pepper beside every brook; The Mexicans use them in all that they cook. Just dine with a Mexican, then you will shout, "I've hell on the inside as well as the out!' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFFIRMATION by LOUIS UNTERMEYER PARTING LOVERS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING VICTORY BELLS by GRACE HAZARD CONKLING CHARLESTON by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE THE LITTLE TURTLE by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY TO RUSSIA by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER LOUISA MAY ALCOTT by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON THE WINDOW; OR, THE SONG OF THE WRENS: THE LETTER by ALFRED TENNYSON |