Hippogriff

By X J Kennedy b. 1929

To look at this fictitious steed

You’d think some mixed-up farmer

Had crossed an eagle with a horse.

It carries knights in armor

Through cloud fields at terrific speed.

I wish the Hippogriff

Would take me for a ride. Of course

It’s not real.

But oh, if . . .!

X.J. Kennedy, “Hippogriff" from Did Adam Name the Vinegarroon? Copyright © 1982 by X.J. Kennedy. Reprinted by permission of X.J. Kennedy.

Source: Did Adam Name the Vinegarroon? (David R. Godine, 1892)

Biography

Joseph Kennedy, better known to his readers by the pseudonym X. J. Kennedy, is a self-confessed "schizophrenic" as regards his writings. Kennedy noted to Contemporary Authors that "I write for three separate audiences: children, college students (who use textbooks), and that small band of people who still read poetry." But there is unity in all of Kennedy's writings—underlying it is a love of poetry and meter, a playfulness . . .

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