Commutative Law

 No cow's like a horse,
 and no horse like a cow.
 That's one similarity
  anyhow.

Quite apart from its poetic merits, this is a pretty neat paradox. It’s amazing the amount of sheer thoughtprovokingness Hein manages to pack into what is, on the surface, practically a children’s rhyme. Nor is this an isolated instance - his collection of around 10000 grooks is an astonishing blend of brilliance and silliness.

I’m reminded somewhat of Stephen Crane, another master of the short, thought-provoking poem - but there’s a significant difference in approach. Whereas Crane’s originality is almost obtrusive, Hein delights in pointing out things that everyone knows, but just never thought of. His characterisation of a pineapple as “sweet and undefinable” remains the best description I’ve ever seen of the fruit, and that’s in large part because I knew exactly what he meant the minute I read it.

Likewise today’s poem - it’s easy to ‘bah’ it on the grounds of triviality, or ‘mere wordplay’, but if you stop to think about it, it’s actually something that everyone might have known, but no one ever thought about, or, more precisely, no one ever noticed the neatness of. The poem itself isn’t one of his most quotable, but I loved the idea behind it.

— Martin