Khichuri Poem by Sukumar Ray

Was a duck, porcupine (to grammar I bow not)
Became Duckupine, but how I know not.

Stork tells turtle, "Indeed it's a delight-
Our Stortle shape is exactly right! "

Parrot-Head Lizard feels decidedly silly:
Must he spurn all bugs for a raw green chili?

The goat now hatches a plan to wed-
Mounts scorpion's neck-body unites with head!

The giraffe's reluctant to wander nearby
With his grasshopper wings, he longs to fly.

Says the cow, "What disease has entered the pen
That my rear belongs to a rascally hen? "

Observe the Whalephant: whale wants the sea;
Elephant says, "It's the jungle for you and me."

The lion has no horns, that's his woe-
He joins with a deer; and now antlers grow!


[Original: Khichuri (Bengali) , Translation by: Prasenjit Gupta]

Khichuri: a common dish all over India and among the Indian diaspora, a flavorful mixture of rice and dal cooked with spices; also used figuratively to mean a hodgepodge or mixture. The Anglicized spelling was 'kedgeree'.