Hippos on Holiday

Hippos on Holiday

is not really the title of a movie
but if it was I would be sure to see it.
I love their short legs and big heads,
the whole hippo look.

Hundreds of them would frolic
in the mud of a wide, slow-moving river,
and I would eat my popcorn
in the dark of a neighborhood theater.

When they opened their enormous mouths
lined with big stubby teeth
I would drink my enormous Coke.

I would be both in my seat
and in the water playing with the hippos,
which is the way it is
with a truly great movie.

Only a mean-spirited reviewer
would ask on holiday from what?

“Hippos on Holiday” reprinted from “Ballistics,” by Billy Collins.
NY: Random House, 2008. p. 42.