JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

Godfrey the goat had a dream one night
that woke him up, so he turned on the light
but as hard as he tried to remember the dream
the details kept running away from him
so he emptied his head out on to the ground
and started to sort through what he found
and to make sure there was nothing that he missed
he picked up a pencil and made a list

 

and here’s what he found…

 

One old rhyme that he’d completely forgotten
about wooly pajamas (or was it cotton?)
a chewed up multiplication table
which explained why at math he wasn’t so able
three jokes about Englishmen and Scots in some other land
the point of which he didn’t quite understand
two telephone numbers that he’d learnt off by heart
useless now since they’d changed how they start
rules about which way to cross the street
and stuff about closing your mouth when you eat
a few new words to God Save the Queen
some nasty things he’d said that he didn’t mean
several lies he’d told that sounded quite neat
and some secrets he’d promised not to repeat
but of that funny dream there wasn’t a trace
and now in his head there was lots of space
so he turned off the light and went back to bed
and woke up in the morning with this rhyme in his head