So she sat to think
about these crazy things:
like, why one goose, two geese;
but not one moose, two meese?
Mouse, mice; louse, lice; blouse, blice?
Why do eggplants have no eggs?
Nor hamburgers, ham?
Neither pine nor apple in pineapple?
How is a song a jam?
Why writers write,
but fingers don’t fing?
Why do fighters fight
in a square ring?
Why can you make amends,
but not one amend?
What do you call a single one,
of odds and ends?
Why do you recite at a play,
and play at a recital?
What’s so awe-full
about something awful?
Where is the inside
of outer space?
Who is the fastest runner
in this human race?
How can a naturist and a naturalist
be completely different things?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables
what does a humanitarian eat?
How can a fat chance and a slim chance,
mean the same thing,
while a wise man and a wise guy,
are so differing?
How does a mind have a frame,
and a thought a train,
all inside one human brain?
Her head is hurt,
she doesn’t understand.
Is she sitting up or sitting down?
Is her smile just an upside-down frown?
Thoughts melted,
she may safely say.
Were it not her first language,
away from English she’d stay.