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.”