Ben David Trigg

I found some words at the bottom of the garden –
Slimy, squirmy and more –
I took those words, hastily squiggled,
And shoved them in a jar.

I tried to catch some fish with them –
Slippery, silvery and wet –
But those tired adjectives didn’t make good bait,
Left me angling in regret.

I took a few words to the refuse heap –
Like biodegrade, rot and soil –
But those nouns and verbs were so sleepy and slow,
And yielded a pathetic spoil.

The children at school rather frightened my words,
For they flopped and burrowed and hid;
And when they got pushed through some hideous backwards letters,
I wrested them from those bumbling kids.

I did everything I could with those wiggly things,
Even failing to enamour the birds;
But now that it has all been said and done –
I guess I’ll have to eat my words.