Mother Goose’s Postmodern Nursery Rhymes by Christina Murphy
numb dumb thumb, see how they run
did you ever see such a thing in your life
as numb dumb thumb?
the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker
all the king’s horses, and all the king’s men
love numb dumb thumb
the cow that jumped over the moon
and the lamb with fleece as white as snow
were friends of numb dumb thumb
until the lamb went up the hill with Jack and Jill
and came back down with Little Boy Blue
the skies grow gray, the clock strikes one
it’s raining, it’s pouring, and Little Jack Horner
can’t find the plum in his Christmas pie
so numb and dumb put thumb in the pie
and thumb came out with the juiciest plum
saying, “What a good boy am I!”
But Baa Baa Black Sheep wanted the plum
and asked Humpty Dumpty for help but
Mary, Mary quite contrary pushed him away
until Old King Cole could save the day with a
Dickery Dickery Dare to the Farmer in the Dell
the Farmer took the plum and went up the hill
where Jack and Jill were looking at clouds and
thinking the clouds were ice cream
“Here is your plum,” said the King to Jack
“And may you always know the secret of
numb dumb thumb and the Marble Wall before
London Bridge falls down and we are all lost and
the Queen of Hearts wants her due”
Jack and Jill and the King watched the gray clouds
until out came the sun and dried up all the rain
and up the hill came numb dumb thumb with
Peter, Peter the Pumpkin Eater in tow and
Simple Simon following gaily behind
Peter gave his pumpkin to numb dumb thumb
who said, “Ding Dong Bell, a Diddle Diddle Dumpling”
and rolled the pumpkin down the hill to the town
the King laughed and proclaimed in his royal way,
“Did you ever see such a thing in your life?
as numb, dumb, thumb?”
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Christina Murphy lives and writes in a 100 year-old Arts and Crafts style house along the Ohio River. She continues to be amazed at how the Arts and Crafts movement–like painter Piet Mondrian–found such artistic integrity (and solace) in straight lines and simple (yet complex) forms. Her writing appears or is forthcoming in a number of journals including, most recently, ABJECTIVE, A cappella Zoo, Splash of Red, LITnIMAGE, Blue Fifth Review, POOL: A Journal of Poetry, Blue Fifth Review, and Counterexample Poetics. Her work has received an Editor’s Choice Award and Special Mention for a Pushcart Prize.
© 2010, Metazen. All rights reserved.
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