An Ogden Nash poem for spring

photo by sister Carolyn Hoggard

 

THE HAT'S GOT MY TONGUE

 

A girl, oh a girl is a wonderful thing,

And so I am happy to say is spring,

And a girl in spring is the absolute works

But for one conspicuous item that irks:

That hat.

 

A girl in spring is a skylark's hymn,

An evenson in a cloister dim,

A moon in June and a dove in love,

 But why the discordant detail above:

That hat?

 

The crocuses put their best feet foremost,

The softest, tenderest raindrops pour most,

Nature walks forth in a robe of dawn,

And you, my love, what do you put on?

That hat.

 

Purple the lilac and green the oaks,

Is spring the time for a milliner's hoax?

Your taste, methought, simply hibernated;

But what did I get when for spring I waited?

That hat.

 

A girl, of a girl is a wonderful thing,

And so I am happy to say is spring,

And you are what I adore the sight of;

That hat is what I adore you in spite of--

Take it off and let's jump on it!

from Good Intentions, p.39                                                                                       (Google Image)