A Giraffe Ate Your Tulips
There really is no nice way
To tell you what I saw;
But a
giraffe ate your tulips-
He chomped them with his maw.
How he came to
be there,
Inside your flower beds,
I really cannot tell you but-
He
bit their bulbous heads.
He chewed them up a time or two,
And
swallowed each in turn,
Then took a sip of water
At the bird bath, by the
urn.
He ate them all quite neatly-
(I think his favorite's red)
And wiped his mouth on branches,
Then scratched his spotted
head.
All day I've been debating
Just how to break the news;
But a
giraffe ate your tulips,
And then he had a snooze.
He snoozed against
the carport,
And he swatted at the flies
With his handy tail-swipe,
When I swear I heard him sigh.
And I'm mostly sure I heard
him
Belch a time or two,
Before heading for Mrs. Johnson's-
Where he
ate her tulips too.
I know you miss your tulips;
They had the
strangest fate,
But a tulip munching giraffe,
You could not
anticipate.
You ought to plant more tulips;
I don't think he's coming
back-
But maybe choose a different shade-
That giraffes will not snack.
Giraffe
Today, I see, your glance is especially sad
And your arms, embracing
your knees, especially thin.
Listen: far, far away on the Lake of
Chad
Wanders a gentle giraffe.
He is endowed with slender grace and
bliss,
And his hide adorned with a magical design
Which the moonlight
alone, shattering and rocking
On the wide wet of the lake, dares to
rival.
From afar he resembles the colored sails of a ship,
And his
gait is smooth as the joyful flight of a bird.
I know that the earth will
witness many wonders,
When, at sunset, he hides in a marble grotto.
I
could tell merry tales of mysterious lands
Of a black maiden, a young chief's
passion,
But you have too long inhaled the heavy mist,
You will believe in
nothing but the rain.
And how can I tell you about a tropical
garden,
Slender palms, the scent of inconceivable herbs...
Are you crying?
Listen...Far off on the Lake of Chad
Wanders a gentle giraffe.
"giraffe"
A giraffe came by the willow tree
Stopped to
gaze and talk to
me.
For he was very lean and tall
A pillar, a
column, a walking
wall.
And as he looked down upon my face
His
eyes were wide two pools
in space,
As they engulfed, the
countryside,
The sky above, held me inside
-
Their special height and
slant of things
Their special view of every
thing,
And I could see by
looking up
The wealth within his loving
cup
That thinks and drinks
the sun and sky
And watches us from way up
high.
And yet I found
it sad to see
That he could never reach down to
me
For he was too
tall, too much ideal
And I was too small, too much the
real.
So,
this angular figure, graceful and wise
Of astounding vision
and cool
clear eyes
Watched the sun rise, then watched it set
Looked down
on
me and seemed to forget
That I was as much a part of this scene
As the
sun in the sky, the oak in the green.
Then the willow tree watching
standing near by
Saw the distance between us and started to cry
she
bowed
down her head touching the ground
And from that day to this,
it's the way
she'll be found
There really is no nice way
To tell you what I saw;
But a
giraffe ate your tulips-
He chomped them with his maw.
How he came to
be there,
Inside your flower beds,
I really cannot tell you but-
He
bit their bulbous heads.
He chewed them up a time or two,
And
swallowed each in turn,
Then took a sip of water
At the bird bath, by the
urn.
He ate them all quite neatly-
(I think his favorite's red)
And wiped his mouth on branches,
Then scratched his spotted
head.
All day I've been debating
Just how to break the news;
But a
giraffe ate your tulips,
And then he had a snooze.
He snoozed against
the carport,
And he swatted at the flies
With his handy tail-swipe,
When I swear I heard him sigh.
And I'm mostly sure I heard
him
Belch a time or two,
Before heading for Mrs. Johnson's-
Where he
ate her tulips too.
I know you miss your tulips;
They had the
strangest fate,
But a tulip munching giraffe,
You could not
anticipate.
You ought to plant more tulips;
I don't think he's coming
back-
But maybe choose a different shade-
That giraffes will not snack.
Giraffe
Today, I see, your glance is especially sad
And your arms, embracing
your knees, especially thin.
Listen: far, far away on the Lake of
Chad
Wanders a gentle giraffe.
He is endowed with slender grace and
bliss,
And his hide adorned with a magical design
Which the moonlight
alone, shattering and rocking
On the wide wet of the lake, dares to
rival.
From afar he resembles the colored sails of a ship,
And his
gait is smooth as the joyful flight of a bird.
I know that the earth will
witness many wonders,
When, at sunset, he hides in a marble grotto.
I
could tell merry tales of mysterious lands
Of a black maiden, a young chief's
passion,
But you have too long inhaled the heavy mist,
You will believe in
nothing but the rain.
And how can I tell you about a tropical
garden,
Slender palms, the scent of inconceivable herbs...
Are you crying?
Listen...Far off on the Lake of Chad
Wanders a gentle giraffe.
"giraffe"
A giraffe came by the willow tree
Stopped to
gaze and talk to
me.
For he was very lean and tall
A pillar, a
column, a walking
wall.
And as he looked down upon my face
His
eyes were wide two pools
in space,
As they engulfed, the
countryside,
The sky above, held me inside
-
Their special height and
slant of things
Their special view of every
thing,
And I could see by
looking up
The wealth within his loving
cup
That thinks and drinks
the sun and sky
And watches us from way up
high.
And yet I found
it sad to see
That he could never reach down to
me
For he was too
tall, too much ideal
And I was too small, too much the
real.
So,
this angular figure, graceful and wise
Of astounding vision
and cool
clear eyes
Watched the sun rise, then watched it set
Looked down
on
me and seemed to forget
That I was as much a part of this scene
As the
sun in the sky, the oak in the green.
Then the willow tree watching
standing near by
Saw the distance between us and started to cry
she
bowed
down her head touching the ground
And from that day to this,
it's the way
she'll be found