Never say, ‘tiny little rabbit’
in a tiny little boat,
or the rabbit might go overboard,
followed by the dog,
and the tiny little boat
Just might forget to float.
Worse things than this
can happen at sea,
according to me;
but I would take that
with a tiny pinch of fault.
If you say ‘rabbit!’
when you are upon a boat-
dogs go overboard!
Never say ‘Haibun’
when at sea, upon a boat;
your dog, might not float.
It is said, by some, that you should never say ‘Rabbit’ in a boat. The reason being, that your dog, if there is one present, might leap up, in search of said ‘Rabbit’ and go overboard in its efforts to chase it.
This has probably happened in the distant, and dim, past, and may even have some grounding in a far removed event. Dogs do love to chase things; some dogs are trained to chase rabbits. It might even be a built in memory of previous dog generations where an ancestral mutt ploughed headlong into a field after its prey.
A point, at this point, I don’t know whether the above applies to hares or not – that information I haven’t got. They are virtually the same, apart from: the name, the mad March thing, the longer ears, and not much else – to suggest that there is any real difference would only be splitting ha—
Anyway, never should you say, ‘Rabbit’, ‘habit’, ‘jab it!’, ‘dab it!’ or the like, when you are all at sea, in a sea-worthy, sea-going craft.
I laughed, when I first heard of this, and thought it no more than a silly myth.
Heading to see soon after, with Minster the Dachshund in tow, I happened to call across to the master of the vessel, ‘I’m sorry we delayed your departure time, the train was cancelled, we got to the station much later than anticipated, and in order to get here roughly on time, we had to cab it!’
Poor, Minster. It took her hours to swim back to port.
Never say ‘Goat’ on a boat,
if you are a poet
trying to keep things afloat;
never say ‘Orange’ either,
but for a completely different reason;
and never say ‘po-tah-to’
when ‘po-tay-to’ will do;
you might get a sinking feeling,
and you might just lose the crew.
Never say it;
for who knows what may befall
the crew, passengers, and boat.
It may be hard to stay afloat
when your dog jumps ship,
when you let the ‘R-word’ slip,
and it answers to the call.
You know you want to;
gut it shouldn’t gee done;
your goat nay sink,
cacksize into the drink;
and all gecause
you said ‘Raggit’
on a goat.
My son, Noah,
is building a boat…
I wish he’d get a proper job,
to keep this family afloat.
.
My son Noah,
Is predicting some rain;
and he’s saving up for that rainy day,
he’s being such a pain.
.
And, now, he want’s a puppy –
in fact he’s wanting two.
He’s never wanted a pet before,
what is a parent to do.
.
And then he says he wants to go to sea,
to sail the ocean blue,
but we reckon he’ll be seasick,
before he’s left the quay.
.
Our son, Noah,
is building a boat,
and it’s gonna be a big one,
judging by the cheque that I just wrote.
A Bee and a Butterfly went to sea
in a dark blue sailing boat;
whilst on the sea,
they drank green tea,
and had no adventures to note.
.
But, on the way back,
the sky turned black,
the boat capsized and sank.
‘Oh, no!’ you cried, ‘They must have died!
Or what Saviour can we thank?’
.
However, the Bee and the Butterfly
did not die,
they simply flew away,
to sail again, upon glistening seas,
on some such other day .
If you want
your plans
to stay afloat,
never say Rabbi
when upon a boat.
.
“Why?” you ask.
“Well…” I reply,
“It’s unlucky,
though I’m not sure why.
Maybe it’s because
if there is a Rabbi upon the craft
he’ll look at you
and think you’re daft;
and he might then throw you overboard
to swim with the fishes.
to meet your Lord
to wash
the final dishes.
“All aboard the Cardboard Boat!” they cried.
“But, will the Cardboard boat stay afloat,
when it sets off from the shore?” I asked.
They smiled at me, as I waved them off,
then frowned as the Cardboard Boat
took on water, then took on more,
and sank within fifty feet of the nearby shore.
“They waded back, with soggy eyes,
from tears or salt I could not surmise;
“We thought the Cardboard Boat would float,
but now we have to make a note,
to tell ourselves that Cardboard is no good,
and the next boat that we make
should be made of…
… blotting paper –
‘then’ we shall have a merry caper!”
Graeme Sandford 