Shaky O'Day

Shaky O’Day went out to play
one afternoon in spring,
when all at once a thunderclap,
and running was the thing.

There was a blur and with a whirr
there was no Day to find;
he moved so fast upon the grass
he left himself behind.

  (A normal day, for Shaky, say,
  was croquet on the lawn;
  but when the thunder cracked the sky,
  O’Day was up and gone.)

When lightning flashed O’Day had dashed
all through the neighborhood;
but when he was nine houses down,
Shaky had understood.

Shaky returned when he had learned
his running was a goof;
he passed his house three claps ago,
and yardage was the proof.

O‘Day once sped and it is said
by some who do allege,
that as Shaky raced to his house,
he even trimmed a hedge.

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