The Ostrich, At Dinnertime Poem by Zac Wittstruck

The ostrich,
even at dinnertime,
is prone to mistakes. His wife scolds him
softly, then returns to her own problems.

‘Why must the mold always be sour? '
says the old woman, but by this time
the refrigerator has left for good. Perhaps
it is time for some new mold?

The ostrich ran out
into the middle of the street and hatched
a cold egg of green baby boys.
The audience laughed.

‘Why must they be babies? ' he cried,
then laughed too
hard. And then
his pelvis broke in two.

By that time, the aliens arrived
at the house of the ostrich and
decimated the front lawn.
‘Please leave me to my problems, '

said the ostrich, but it was too late.
He had already urinated for the day.
The aliens invited the ostrich
and his wife to dinner,

but the ostrich accepted.
On their way, they saw
many wheelbarrows and rhinoceroses
floating in outer space.

The guards of the alien's home
planet stopped and searched
the spaceship. They found
the ostrich and his wife, in the back.




They were in a closet that had been
bolted three times.
Nobody wanted to imagine what
they were doing

in there, but at that exact time, the
interplanetary war between the planets
stopped, and the guards'
shifts were over. The ostrich

and his wife had a very nice
dinner that night,
and then the first thing
in the morning,

they were decapitated.