Astrakhan

By Robert James DeBurgh (Poet)

In Semnet�s shop, in Cairo town
Where furs are sold, new furs and old,
There�s a box full of little bits of brown
Astrakhan, and bits of black as well, with mould.

Once I saw a man, a Cairene named Cox
In the shop of a Tuesday before dinner
Rummaging through the box
Looking for a bit of Astrakhan, thinner

Than the one he had before that was too thick
But he couldn�t find one. �Shit a brick!�
Says Cox, and �Pox! Its enough to give you the shits
Looking in here to find a bit that fits.

You�d think that any man-Jack can
Find a bit of Astrakhan
To patch the bald bit on this hat,
But I can�t, so I�ll just leave it at that !�

And with that, his face like a gudgeon,
He slung the box upon the floor
In High Dudgeon, and stomped out the door
Muttering �Bugger�

CAIRO 1890

NOTES ON PROVENANCE:
This work, from the Egyptian period, was discovered by Sekhmet Ali of Cairo, under the threadbare rug in his room in a Cairo flop-house. He immediately alerted the proper authorities, namely the Cairo Dept of Infestation, as he had found, simultaneously with the priceless discovery, a fully developed culture of silverfish, complete with its own symphony orchestra. The music was complex and subtle, but alas Sekhmet�s action in wiping out the entire Silverfish Culture, deprived the world of some rare insights.