Classic Poem

(For R. F.)

The pot of gold at the rainbow end
is a pot of mud, gold mud,
slippery shining mud.

Pour it on your hair and you will
have a golden hair.
Pour it on your cat and you will
have a golden cat.
Pour it on your clock and you will
have a golden clock.

Pour it on a dead man's thumb and
you will have a golden thumb
to bring you bad dreams.
Pour it on a dead woman's ear and
you will have a golden ear
to tell hard luck stories to.
Pour it on a horse chestnut and you
will have a golden buckeye
changing your luck.
Pour it in the shape of a holy cross,
fasten it on my shirt for me to wear
and I will have a keepsake.
I will touch it and say a prayer for you.