If I could speak a word and shape it
Think of all the things I’d make it
Blues and greens and purples too
So many options what should I do?
A little romance and something queerer
Horror reflects love like a mirror
A human face with human hands
Long curvèd horns my word demands
I give it wings, which I take away
I give it legs to run and play
Those end in feet and scaly paws
With short stubbed, and blunted claws
I give it a snout with vicious fangs
And a great long tail from which it hangs
It will sleep at midmorning and reign at night
It will be a scholar, a warrior that will fight
It will have gold sequins and silver glitter
Its mood is happy; it will never be bitter
It will do as I say and nothing more
It will hold my chairs, my books, my doors
It will be fluent in a hundred tongues
And have two heads and fourteen lungs
With all that wind it will create song
Play a whole band and I’ll follow along
I’ll be the conductor of its marching band
And when I’m through I’ll still its hand
"Come on let’s go, to see the world!"
And so we flew, through space we hurled
Just as we reached the moon I heard
My creation making a sound absurd
It sounded like my teacher way back home
How long had I rambled? How long had I roamed?
"Time’s up," she said, and stopped her timer
"Pass your papers forward inside your primer,"
What was the assignment? I hadn’t heard
And all that waste, for just one word
