1834

I never got what was supposed to be so awful
About sounding like nursery rhymes --
I have only good memories of nursery rhymes
Such as it's not true that they're all about plague

I do not aspire to be a child
Nor am I insecure in my adulthood
Although I am always impressed
By young people who "look mature"

The wholesomely naughty goosey goosey gander
Frankie and Johnny were lovers
Tyger tiger et cetera and so on
And the unknowns we know

Fairy tales, on the other hand,
I recognize as leading to Nabokov
And all that other collectively agreed
Smug-faced disappointment mongering

It's enough to make a man start a car
And head out on the parkway
Until the urge to lean the head out the window
Turns you into a golden retriever who can drive