Pages

Monday, April 12, 2021

up on the hill


by horace p sternwall



there once was a guy named bill
he had a mule and a dog and lived on a hill
the mule wore a hat made in spain
and the dog had an old tin can for a brain

the dog’s name was frankie lee
what else would it be?
the mule was called sleepytime joe
he always went with the flow

they did not get many visitors
revenue men or spanish inquisitors
an occasional lightning bolt
would give them a nudge or a jolt

trees grew on the hill
the way trees will
birds lived in the branches
and took their chances

snakes crawled on the ground
some bigger than others
and bears and possums avoided them
if they had their druthers

one day bill got a postcard
from a lawyer in the town
and terrible things transpired
but nobody wrote them down

bill and joe and frankie lee
are no longer to be found
but a portion of their old black stove
still sticks up from the ground



No comments: