Keese poems on Hello Poetry

AngshumanChakravarty Feb 2018

We'll begin with a box, the plural is boxes.
But the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes!
One fowl is a goose, and two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose is never called meese.

You may find a lone mouse, or a house full of mice-
But the plural of house is houses, not hice!
The plural of man is always men,
But the plural of pan is never pen-

If I speak of a foot and you show me two feet,
And I give you a book, would a pair be a beek?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't two booths be called beeth?

If the singular's this and the plural is these-
Should the plural of kiss be ever called keese?

We speak of a brother and also of brethren-
But though we say mother, we never say methren;
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his, and him-
Now imagine the feminine- She- Shis and-Shim>

~ Anonymous.

Bal Sukhvinder Feb 26

The Curious Case of English Plurals

English is tricky, that much we know,
Its plurals and rules put on quite a show.
One lonely box becomes two or three,
Yet oxen, not oxes, roam wild and free.

A single goose may take to the sky,
But two are called geese—don’t ask me why.
A moose in the forest, grand and loose,
Yet more than one is never meese!

A mouse in the attic, a family of mice,
But houses aren’t hice—now, wouldn’t that be nice?
One single man, but a crowd full of men,
Still, no one has ever baked in a pen.

A foot turns to feet, a tooth into teeth,
But booths aren’t beeth? Good grief!
If this becomes these, then what about kiss?
Would a room full of love be a place full of keese?

A brother has brethren, so why not methren?
If father stands strong, why not a fethren?
And masculine pronouns—he, his, and him,
Yet she, shis, and shim just don’t fit in!

English is puzzling, quirky, absurd,
Its rules are uncertain, its logic unheard.
Yet somehow we learn it, though oft with a sigh,
And keep asking "but why, oh why?"

— The End —