Henrietta Hoo

Henrietta Hoo
Had a feather in her hat
It belonged to a bird
But she got it from a cat
The cat made a deal
With the odd little squirrels
Those tree acrobats
With bodacious tails
They’d let the cat climb the trees
If she’d teach them how to swim
And she taught ‘em alright
But not everythin’
Not the backstroke
Or jackknife divin’
Just the dog paddle,
Cats are so connivin’

Now I know you’re thinkin’
That the cat killed a bird
To give Hoo that feather
Of which you’ve now heard
But the cat really bought it
From the magpies who are strange
If crows are a murder
Magpies are deranged
They gave the cat a feather
That they found in the trash
For the cat’s silver bell
The shiny thing they had to have
But the cat didn’t know
Cats aren’t that smart
Climbing trees as though
It sets them apart

There’s splashing down by the river’s edge
Ringing bells in the boundary hedge
Eyes looking down as if looks could kill
Some feathers on a window sill
The sun goes down
On this gathered crowd
All tightly bound
Going ‘round and ‘round

Henrietta thought the feather
Was an eagle’s or a hawk’s
Hope is sometimes like that
But it was just a duck’s
Who lost it in a fight
Nothing bloody, nothing gory
Involving an umbrella
But that’s another story

Now Hoo wanted the feather
‘Cause of a fellow with a feathered cap
A harmonica player
Called Gabriel Fat
Fat’s hair curled
Like thread and needle grass
And it drove Hoo crazy
Until at last
She decided she too
Would get a feather and a hat
And start a conversation
With Gabriel Fat
About feathers or whatever
Hoo had no clue
Maybe bullwhips or gazebos
She hadn’t thought it through

It turned out Fat was a man
Of very few words
But Hoo knew some
And he heard hers
And as conversations do
It got carried away
Cats and music
And the unheralded play

There’s a lot to be said
For minutes and seconds
And all of the
Surprising intersections
That’s where every life is lived
Not future or past
And so it was for
These two at last

There’s splashing down by the river’s edge
Ringing bells in the boundary hedge
Eyes looking down as if looks could kill
Some feathers on a window sill
The sun goes down
On this gathered crowd
All tightly bound
Going ‘round and ‘round

This is a story of a cat
And covetous birds
A waterfowl in trouble
And dreaming squirrels
It’s a story about a boy
It’s a story about a girl
Joined together by what they needed
From a poker-faced world

You might see it that way
But chances are you don’t
Mostly we look through just one end
Of the telescope
But just step back
And see the whole thing
We all need each other
Everyone, everything

There’s splashing down by the river’s edge
Ringing bells in the boundary hedge
Eyes looking down as if looks could kill
Some feathers on a window sill
The sun goes down
On this gathered crowd
All tightly bound
Going ‘round and ‘round
The sun goes down
On this gathered crowd
All tightly bound
Going ‘round and ‘round