Country Fair
If you didn't see the six-legged dog, It doesn't matter. We did, and he mostly lay in the corner. As for the extra legs, One got used to them quickly And thought of other things. Like, what a cold, dark night To be out at the fair. Then the keeper threw a stick And the dog went after it On four legs, the other two flapping behind, Which made one girl shriek with laughter. She was drunk and so was the man Who kept kissing her neck. The dog got the stick and looked back at us. And that was the whole show.
From Hotel Insomnia, published by Harcourt Brace & Company, 1991. Copyright © 1991 by Charles Simic. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the author.