The Animal Ball

Let us go to the Animal Ball, disguised as bipeds!
And the first man down on all fours, pays for the drinks!
Stan has a cocker that can walk on his hind legs, too:
We’ll take him along, to support us when the spirit sinks.

We’ve walked on our hind-legs now so many ages,
We’re hoof to the knee, and hock to the hip, but still—
How hot the feet get when you’ve only two to hit the ground with!
It takes real nerve to walk erect, and a pretty strong will.

We went too far when we put on the fur of lynxes,
Of weasels trapped in winter when they’ve lost their tan;
We went too far when we let the fox assist us
To warm the hide that houses the soul of Man.

The reek of the leopard and the stink of the inky cat
Striped handsomely with white, are in the concert hall;
We sleekly writhe from under them, and are above all that:
But, the concert over, back into our pelts we crawl.

“It is bad to let the dog taste leather.”