Peter Bland

In Dad’s old council house

for Karen

In Dad’s old council house we sat
on sawn-off elephants’ feet.
We slept in tropical hammocks
and chewed raw rhino meat.

Spears bristled in the hat stand.
Dead snakes were nailed to the stairs.
The sofa was always neatly stuffed
with old hippopotamus hairs.

My sister wore a wild grass skirt.
My brother bred cannibal fishes.
Mother served us meals-on-leaves
and Grandma ate the dishes.

Father hid in the garden,
digging a pit for stray sheep.
He liked to use them as bait
for the tigers that walked in his sleep.

Author’s Note

Sources

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