Higgledy-Piggledy

I sit on the porch and begin to hum
cross my eyes and twiddle my thumbs;
as a cat and a rat, and an old brown toad
run higgledy-piggledy down the road.

“You’ll never catch me”, the chorus rings out
as the toad leaps high and the rat runs about,
while the cat flats his ears and flicks his tail
dodging the farmer’s rusty ol’ pail.

They scurry, they scatter; they yelp and they yowl;
and all of this racket wakes up the barn owl,
so they dive for the ditch and scuttle along;
I wonder how long this game will go on.

When the old owl tires of flying at noon,
the cat curls up like an old racoon
while I sit on the porch and watch the road
for the sharp-witted rat and the old brown toad.




2005
Janet Reid





Awarded by Poetic Constellations