“Plush Lullaby”

                           “Plush Lullaby” 

(A Dream of a Perfect Sleepy Evening)

Jeanne Rose Hedgehog did the frug in a pink tutu
And a British accent that Dick Van Dyke would not do.
Tippy was a black and white cow with a pink hoodie
 “Go Vegan!” painted on her back, longing to be free.
Nicole A. Goth Treefrog (wore a cat hat so stylish).
She was more than sad most days, feelin’ a tad Kurt Weill-ish.

Warmed by each other’s glow, sharing a marshmallow hug,
Silly grins and their foolish fears dumped out on the rug.
Not one of them cared how odd their toys or thoughts might be,
For they were all awed by each other’s proximity.
“Love you guys”, Nicole croaked, expectin’ to be pushed away.
But they just beamed and felt loved – was that kind of kind day.

Jill Squirrel sang as Jeanne painted a kitten green-gray.
It could be a furry dolphin in their drowsy play.
Sad Tippy Cow made a smile out of twenty sea shells,
Jill’s shaky paws made her guitar chime like distant bells.
Nicole began to dream of dreaming – a lovely sight:
A happy frog in a flickering pool of moonlight.

Origin:

One day my late wife, Kerry, gave me marching orders. We’d start an art project about plush.

 I am copying Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” for that book/exhibition (My Wife in Art). I decided to put Tippy Cow in the Gothic window behind the farmer and his sister. (I am placing Kerry or her plush toys in every painting I am doing, which explains the title -- My Wife in Art).

Even today, the house is a tourist attraction in Iowa. Not long ago, the current owner’s husband past away. Behind that window, in real life, is a woman still grieving. I was moved by her story and started to write lyrics to a song called “Behind the Window in the Painting” but I have been writing a lot of sad lyrics about Kerry and decided to write something happier.

Odd, I think I wrote it to cheer up the unseen woman crying in the painting. I cheered myself up by being in the magical company of four very accepting plush toys that don’t judge each other at all. It may not be great – but it is an honest dream of a perfect sleepy evening.

For posterity all the plush are heroes of Kerry’s and mine. Why? They defined for us what it means to be plush in a very hard world.

Jill Susan Squirrel is the fashion plate and record bigwig, Jill Sobule.

Tippy Cow is songwriter Tippy Montgomery.

Jeanne Rose Hedgehog is Jeanne Verdick, a friend of mine since we were teenagers.

And last, but not least, is Nicole Agoth Treefrog in reality, Nicole Jeppsin.

 

© Gruesome2some 2013