This doggerel was written for the Doe on her birthday, August 25, 2013, while I was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz Ala-Too Mountains rise just outside Bishkek. I was probably the only Jew in Bishkek on that day. The number 28 is, let us say, an approximate value.
O noble Doe, O graceful Doe,
O Doe of softest nose,
Another birthday comes, and then
Another birthday goes.
Connecticut’s a tricky word
To fit into a poem,
So let’s just say New England was
The Doe’s ancestral home.
It was a day in August, and
The hour just at dawn,
When all the Forest came to cheer
The Advent of the Fawn.
A wise old Owl did prophesy
The Fawn would thrive and grow,
And would, in time, transform into
A most distinguished Doe.
How many years ago that was,
The Doe will not relate.
But I know, for I looked it up:
The Doe is twenty-eight.
Even here in old Bishkek,
Beneath the Ala-Toos,
The Kyrgyz are rejoicing now,
And so too are the Jews.
Let fireworks rise, and leave behind
A pink and azure glow,
To celebrate that happy day:
The Birthday of the Doe.
Birthday Greeting to the Doe
This doggerel was written for the Doe on her birthday, August 25, 2013, while I was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz Ala-Too Mountains rise just outside Bishkek. I was probably the only Jew in Bishkek on that day. The number 28 is, let us say, an approximate value.
O noble Doe, O graceful Doe,
O Doe of softest nose,
Another birthday comes, and then
Another birthday goes.
Connecticut’s a tricky word
To fit into a poem,
So let’s just say New England was
The Doe’s ancestral home.
It was a day in August, and
The hour just at dawn,
When all the Forest came to cheer
The Advent of the Fawn.
A wise old Owl did prophesy
The Fawn would thrive and grow,
And would, in time, transform into
A most distinguished Doe.
How many years ago that was,
The Doe will not relate.
But I know, for I looked it up:
The Doe is twenty-eight.
Even here in old Bishkek,
Beneath the Ala-Toos,
The Kyrgyz are rejoicing now,
And so too are the Jews.
Let fireworks rise, and leave behind
A pink and azure glow,
To celebrate that happy day:
The Birthday of the Doe.