Serious Advice for Children

355px-Kinder-Verwirr-Buch_10(Another translation from Joachim Ringelnatz’s 1931 Children-Confusion-Book; read about him here).

Serious Advice for Children
(Ernster Rat an Kinder)

Woodchips fall when you plane
Corpses float in the Seine
Every boat below the deck
Gets covered in a sticky dreck

Beneath the mane’s greasy patina
Of every lion and hyena
Cling a host of critters
In goose feathers, hanging on
Are nesting lice, just like with swans
(Not to mention human beings
Then have it worse with their hygiene)

Not for nothing are there quarantines

When I yawn it’s like gangrene

Only tears are truly pristine
And water from mountain streams

Kids: brush your teeth clean!!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized by Nathan. Bookmark the permalink.

About Nathan

Nathan Thornburgh is a contributing writer and former senior editor at TIME Magazine who has also written for the New York Times, newyorker.com and, of course, the Phnom Penh Post. He suspects that he is messing up his kids, but just isn’t sure exactly how.

One thought on “Serious Advice for Children

  1. Pingback: What Happened on the Wagon? | DADWAGON

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *