My Dad's a Hippopotamus (a poetry re-issue)

MY DAD’S A HIPPOPOTAMUS
by
Greg Pincus

My dad’s a hippopotamus.
He’s dad to quite a lot of us.
You think that’s strange? I don’t know why,
Since we’re all hippopotami.

We’re friends with a rhinoceros,
Who I think looks preposterous.
I’m glad that I don’t spend time bein’
Something so rhinocerian.

We live next to a crocodile.
He’s over there on his own isle.
He’s got big bumps on each short limb.
I’m glad that I don’t look like him.

We also know a chimpanzee,
The strangest creature that you’ll see.
Those gangly arms look out of place,
And I would never want his face.

Right nearby’s an ocelot.
He likes to mew and roar a lot.
With spots and splotches hard to miss,
I think he looks ridiculous.

But there’s one creature that we see
That’s most absurd. We all agree.
It comes to visit at our zoo.
And... oh... how sad! It looks like you.


For reasons unknown to me, this poem has been stuck in my head lately. I figured that was a good reason to re-post it (it first appeared here in April of 2008) You can see what else folks are up to if you head on over to the Poetry Friday roundup (hosted by Laura Purdie Salas).

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