Grey Squirrel
Student
To cozy up to the Beatnik Girl I joined
The Folk Music Club. The meeting
Consisted of singing to each other
From mimeographed pages while
A few of them played their guitars.
No other males were present as
The Beatnik Girl and the other girls
Looked at me with pleasant enough
Expressions on their faces as they
Might look at a harmless bear cub.
Unlike the hairsprayed sorority girls
These no makeup girls seemed to
Flaunt their back country origins and
While they did not wear Davy Crockett
Coonskin hats they might as well have.
After a few songs I was asked to
Introduce myself to the group and
Maybe say a few words about myself
Like where in Mississippi I was from
And about my interest in folk music.
Often I am rather squeamish about
Saying that I come from Hog Chain
So I say Bogue Chitto instead but
Among the odd duck girls I admitted,
“I’m from Hog Chain in Lincoln county.”
I continued, “It may surprise you to
“Learn that a hog chain has nothing
“To do with pigs but is actually a
“Metal rod that supports the hulls of
“Flat-bottom stern-wheeler riverboats.
“I am the first ever from Hog Chain to
“Attend Ole Miss just as I am the first
“One to be a brother in Kappa Alpha
“Where our motto is ‘Dieu et les Dames’
“Meaning ‘God and the Ladies’ in English.
“As for my interest in folk music perhaps
“I don’t know how I can put it into words
“But I have smelled so much hairspray
“And deoderant on sorority girls that I
“Need a break from that really bad.”
Had I said too much or not enough?
A moment of stunned silence ensued
Until one of them finally whispered
Quietly almost like a little mouse,
“Could you please tell us your name?”
Just then in that very second before
I could reply the Beatnik Girl stated
Loudly and firmly, “His former name
“Means nothing because I am giving
“Him a new one which is Grey Squirrel!”
