Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PREHISTORIC SMITH; QUATERNARY EPOCH - POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD, by DAVID LAW PROUDFIT Poet's Biography First Line: A man sat on a rock and sought Last Line: And wagged his tail. Alternate Author Name(s): Arkwright, Pegleg Subject(s): Evolution; Prehistoric Peoples; Tails | ||||||||
A MAN sat on a rock and sought Refreshment from his thumb; A dinotherium wandered by And scared him some. His name was Smith. The kind of rock He sat upon was shale. One feature quite distinguished him -- He had a tail. The danger past, he fell into A revery austere; While with his tail he whisked a fly From off his ear. "Mankind deteriorates," he said, "Grows weak and incomplete; And each new generation seems Yet more effete. "Nature abhors imperfect work, And on it lays her ban; And all creation must despise A tailless man. "But fashion's dictates rule supreme, Ignoring common sense; And fashion says, to dock your tail Is just immense. "And children now come in the world With half a tail or less; Too stumpy to convey a thought, And meaningless. "It kills expression. How can one Set forth, in words that drag, The best emotions of the soul, Without a wag?" Sadly he mused upon the world, Its follies and its woes; Then wiped the moisture from his eyes, And blew his nose. But clothed in earrings, Mrs. Smith Came wandering down the dale; And, smiling, Mr. Smith arose, And wagged his tail. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE END OF IT by JOHN BANISTER TABB BISMILLAH by DAVID LAW PROUDFIT POOR LITTLE JOE by DAVID LAW PROUDFIT RETRIBUTION by DAVID LAW PROUDFIT THE BAR-TENDER'S STORY by DAVID LAW PROUDFIT THE WILLIS by DAVID LAW PROUDFIT VARIATIONS: 14 by CONRAD AIKEN CAMOMILE TEA by KATHERINE MANSFIELD ODE FOR A SOCIAL MEETING, WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS BY A TEETOTALER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES |
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