WHY, IF IT'S NOT

Why, do we call it

Something it’s not

If we’re going to name things

Let’s give it, some thought

 

If it’s called a chilli

Then why is it so hot

And I can say this

A guinea pig, is not

 

A prairie dog

He only digs holes

But this dog belongs

With rodents and moles

 

If you eat an elder berry

You won’t get to retire

But a taste for them

You must acquire

 

If I strike a ball

And this gets me pissed

In real life, I hit it

But in baseball, I missed

 

That horned toad

Isn’t a wizard

Not even a frog

It’s just a lizard

 

A pencil with lead

That’s just a myth

It’s really graphite

That we write with

 

A simple door mouse

Is really neither

It’s just a squirrel

Taking a breather

 

It’s not a firefly

Lighting the dark

It’s only a horny beetle

That has the spark

 

And who gives us silk

Not that silkworm

It’s really caterpillars

That wiggle and squirm

 

Bears have no pouch

But Koala bears do

It’s a marsupial

I thought you knew

 

To some this may not

Be a big deal

But wasn’t Achilles

Really a heel

 

That majestic bald eagle

His head is not bare

And that speedy jackrabbit

Is really a hare

 

A Turkish bath

Invented by a Roman

And catgut intestines

From sheep abdomen

 

A shooting star

That isn’t right

It’s always been

A meteorite

 

A peanut a nut

You would presume

Nope, not a chance

It’s a legume

 

A Douglas fir

Is only a pine

And that funny bone

It’s not, by design

 

Cucumbers and tomatoes

This is a hoot

They are not veggies

They’re really a fruit

 

A duck bill is not

A duck’s paper money

And bees didn’t make

My little honey

 

Hamburgers are made

With beef and not pork

And how come those hot dogs

At strangers don’t bark

 

Sometimes you get

A really dumb waiter

But not in a restaurant

It’s an elevator

 

Eye tooth is a dog’s tooth

But not in his eye

This kind of name

Just makes me cry

 

A killdeer is not roadkill

That’s just absurd

It really is

A wading bird

 

Duck weed is a water lily

Dog wood is a bush

An ear wig is an insect

And your a*s is a tush

 

Shortbread is a cookie

And a jumping bean is a seed

And things we misname

Only tend to mislead

BOEMS by JA 134