Nature Sonnets (By the Village Poet)

Pa fetched a skunk in yesterday,

     That he ketched in a big steel trap o’ his

     Which he had set out where the hen coop is.

And talk about your perfume, by the way,

It beat all kinds of rose and new mown hay.

     Ma said she had a mind to leave the farm,

     And burned some coffee to dispel the charm,

And even that would scarce drive it away.

Pa said he guessed it was worth while to ketch

     The skunk because it ketched his chickens so;

He said he’d put it on a board and stretch

     The skin as long and wide as it would go,

And being black he lowed that it would fetch

     A dollar, which every bush don’t grow.

Nov. 30, 1910