It's Not Fair What They Say About Okra

Tune: Irving Caesar's, Gerald Marks's and Sammy Lerner's "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?"

(Inspired by the headline of a Kay Rentschler piece in The New York Times, July 28, 2004)

It's not fair what they say about okra;
No it's not quite as bad as it sounds.
From Dallas, Tex., to DUMBO,
From Cape Fear to Cape Cod,
You can't make chicken gumbo
Without that little pod.

It's not fair that the poor lady-finger
Should be viewed
As a food
Out-of-bounds;
It could thrill
And enthrall
And seduce you every time—
And it would, if it weren't for slime.