THE DANDYFOSILTHISELWIG
There never was a weed so odd,
So pretty, and so big,
As the curious plant called
The Dandyfosilthiselwig.
There it was, by itself,
In a square patch of dirt,
Surrounded by fencing as if in a brig,
The lonesome Dandyfosilthiselwig.
With a stem round and sturdy, and a skin course and wrinkly,
It rose toward the heavens.
What others thought it gave not a fig, this,
The proud Dandyfosilthiselwig.
It began as a seedling dropped by a bird.
Its natural instincts subverted by cat pee and turd.
Spring roots sprouted, and began to dig.
Thus did the new kid on the block, the Dandyfosilthiselwig.
Yellow at birth, green in its youth,
It gave off a smell that was most uncouth.
But as the seasons changed, and it climbed to the sky,
Indications were seen that this was no mere twig.
The budding Dandyfosilthiselwig.
A triangle-shaped flower emerged at the top,
Its color that of long curdled slop.
One had to wonder why God gave it this gig.
The weird looking Dandyfosilthiselwig.
Then came the fruit, all blue and white spotted.
About its benefits the scientists became besotted.
Beautiful and tasty, past opinions were soon judged hasty,
As it was discovered to be the cure for a Prig.
A glorious freak of nature, the Dandyfosilthiselwig.
Copyright 7/2003.
The above poem was produced in one hour, while riding the bus after leaving a writers group I was attending at the time.
I was sitting in the dark at a bus stop, looking at the trees in the park behind me, when a nonsense word just popped into my head out of nowhere.
And the germ of an idea started forming.
I had the bare basics of 2 stanzas by the time the bus arrived a few minutes later, and after sitting down in the back I began to think and write.
I was so inspired and involved that by the time I finally finished and looked up, an hour later, I noticed the bus had long since passed my stop and was reaching the end of the route. :-D
Needless to say I was an hour late in getting home. :-D
After a little tweaking, the following morning, the final result is what you have just read, and hopefully enjoyed.
***UPDATE - 4/15/08***
In a follow-up I share debates I once had with readers of this poem, and was surprised to learn that one reader compares it favorably with a song written by a pair of famous song writers I had never even heard of before.
National Poetry Month 4: In the Eye of the Beholder ;-D
***END UPDATE***
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