Poetry from Rhys Hughes
VANILLA GORILLA
I’m a gorilla
who likes the taste of vanilla
ice cream. You are a
tender orang-utan
who prefers the tang
of tangerine. I am rather glad
you aren’t a gibbon
infatuated with fig and
strawberry who feels
an inexplicable need
to devour the dairy dessert
in haste and render
the tub quite
hairy.
HUSKY DOG
I knew
a husky dog
long ago.
In the day
he pulled
sledges over snow.
But in the evenings
he was a singer
in a jazz club.
WHAT WE CALL
I sometimes wonder
what we call a sea
in which a brave dog
swims desperately
through tempestuous
and perilous waves?
Rough! Rough!
SHEEP MAY SAFELY GRAZE THEIR KNEES
Sheep may safely graze their knees
when skating in the dark.
Although the park is closed at night
and trees in the breeze are sepulchral
the half-pipe is still accessible
to those who have the keys
and this bold woolly flock do, it’s true.
The rams and lambs are showing off,
pulling wheelies and flipping spins,
while the ewes prefer to slalom
around tall bollards wet with dew.
But no matter what tricks they play
they are safe until the break of day,
for this is a town that loves their kind,
a place where animals can lark around
and sheep may safely graze their knees.
Rhys Hughes has lived in many countries. He graduated as an engineer but currently works as a tutor of mathematics. Since his first book was published in 1995 he has had fifty other books published and his work has been translated into ten languages.
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