Monkey & Bear

Down in the green hay Where monkey and bear usually lay They woke from a stable-boy's cry He said; someone come quick! The horses got loose, got grass-sick! They'll founder! Fain, they'll die What is now known by the sorrel and the roan? By the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding grey? It is: stay by the gate you are given And remain in your place, for your season And had the overfed dead but listened To that high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom... Did you hear that, Bear? Said monkey We'll get out of here, fair and square They've left the gate open wide! So My bride Here is my hand, where is your paw? Try and understand my plan, Ursala My heart is a furnace Full of love that's just, and earnest Now; you know that we must unlearn this Allegiance to a life of service And no longer answer to that heartless Hay-monger, nor be his accomplice (that charlatan, with artless hustling!) But; Ursala, we've got to eat something And earn our keep, while still within The borders of the land that man has girded (all double-bolted and tight-fisted!) Until we reach the open country A-steeped in milk and honey Will you keep your fancy clothes on, for me? Can you bear a little longer to wear that leash? My love, I swear by the air I breathe: Sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth But for now, just dance, darling C'mon, will you dance, my darling? Darling, there's a place for us Can we go, before I turn to dust? Oh my darling, there's a place for us Oh darling C'mon will you dance, my darling? Oh, the hills are groaning with excess Like a table ceaselessly being set Oh my darling, we will get there yet They trooped past the guards, Past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards All night, till finally: The space they gained grew Much farther than the stone that bear threw To mark where they'd stop for tea But walk a little faster And don't look backwards Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap And their applause caws the kettle black And we can't have none of that! Move along, Bear; there, there; that's that Though cast in plaster Our Ursala's heart beat faster Than monkey's ever will But still; They have got to pay the bills Hadn't they? That is what the monkey'd say So, with the courage of a clown, or a cur Or a kite, jerking tight at its tether In her dun-brown gown of fur And her jerkin' of swansdown and leather Bear would sway on her hind legs; The organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure Of the children, who'd shriek Throwing coins at her feet Then recoiling in terror Sing, dance, darling C'mon, will you dance, my darling? Oh darling, there's a place for us Can we go, before I turn to dust? Oh my darling, there's a place for us Oh darling C'mon, will you dance, my darling? You keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill Where you'll ever-after eat your fill Oh my darling, dear, mine If you dance Dance, darling, and I love you still Deep in the night Shone a weak and miserly light Where the monkey shouldered his lamp Someone had told him The bear had been wandering A fair piece away from where they were camped Someone had told him The bear'd been sneaking away To the seaside caverns, to bathe And the thought troubled the monkey For he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves Also afraid what the village people would say If they saw the bear in that state; Lolling and splashing obscenely Well, it seemed irrational, really; washing that face Washing that matted and flea-bit pelt In some sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine But monkey just laughed, and he muttered; When she comes back, Ursala will be bursting with pride Till I jump up! Saying: you've been rolling in muck! Saying: you smell of garbage and grime! But far out Far out By now By now Far out, by now, Bear ploughed 'Cause she would not drown: First the outside-legs of the bear Up and fell down, in the water, like knobby garters Then the outside-arms of the bear Fell off, as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes Low'red in a genteel curtsy Bear shed the mantle of her diluvian shoulders; And, with a sigh, She allowed the burden of belly to drop like an apron full of boulders If you could hold up her threadbare Coat to the light where it's worn translucent in places You'd see spots where Almost every night of the year Bear had been mending suspending that baseness Now her coat drags through the water Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows; In the magnetic embrace Balletic and glacial of Bear's insatiable shadow; Left there! Left there! When Bear left Bear Left there! Left there! When Bear stepped clear of Bear Sooner or later you'll bury your teeth