Wednesday 26 June 2013

The Turtles and the Lobsters


The turtles creep out of the sea
Ever so anxious not to be seen.
They shuffle up the sandy beach
Until the restaurants they reach

There the lobsters lay in wait,
Reflecting on their grizzly fate:
To be eaten by a head of state,
Off a silver-gilded plate.

The waiters leave to check the rice,
The turtles leap to the trays of ice,
In one fail swoop they seize their loot,
Then disappear to evade pursuit.

 Freed from their plight,
The lobsters dash off in flight.
The waiters watch exasperated,
The turtles smile much elated.

Turning tail and running,
Ever so pleased with their cunning,
They race back to the ocean.
Causing quite a commotion.

Sunday 23 June 2013

The boy called Will



There once was a boy called Will,
Who didn’t like that fish were killed.
Seeing ice-trays of seafood,
He thought rather crude,
And, though he liked fishing,
He spent his whole life wishing,
The world was a little less cruel.

So one day he moved to the ocean shores,
To learn first-hand about fishing folklore.
He soon realised that fish stocks were dwindling,
With no hope of numbers re-kindling
And that overfishing shoudn’t be ignored.

He voyaged the seas far and wide,
Enduring tempestuous seas and dangerous tides,
Studied the distribution of cod
And the number of dolphin pods.
Discovering everything from giant squid,
To enormous aquatic pigs.

He became a legendary sailor,
Admired by even Japanese whalers.
So with intelligence and tact,
He laid out the facts,
Convincing them all,
That over-fishing
 Just isn’t cool.


Wednesday 12 June 2013

Snowbadgers


He had travelled the world far and wide,
Delved into the oceans and explored the skies.
From slippery-armed squid to sharp-horned pigs,
Wide-finned whales to tiny, slippery snails,
He thought he had heard every call,
And seen every creature, great or small.
Yet rumours reached him from far away,
Of a secret species not seen by night nor day.
A mysterious beast that travelled in packs,
And was untraceable save for the faintest of tracks.


 They said it could traverse mountains and scale their summits,
Navigate the coastline and swim through ocean currents.
As at home in the hills as in the sea,
A master of all with effortless ease.
Some said it was reckless,
Seen running across logs aflame with fire,
Or attempting dangerous feats with consequences dire.
Others said it was a drunkard,
Seen more often than not with a bottle in hand,
Running in circles and struggling to stand.


Some thought it was a monkey, with thick dark hair and gangly arms.
Others thought a meerkat, with a sharp, weasely face and cheeky charms.
A few swore it was a bear,
Active, affable and impossible to scare,
While others vowed it a mouse,
Often caught napping, if not asleep in its house.
From gungho enthusiasm and adventurous daring,
To woozy alcoholism and loss of bearings,
Rumours were rife of this chaotic creature,
So the adventurer composed a list of its features.


He questioned witnesses and drew up plans,
Plotted trips that took him as far as Japan.
Yet the criteria was so broad,
He knew not whether to search the skies or scour the fjords,
And was soon convinced that the tales must be fraud.
No matter how much he strained,
His investigation was all but in vain
And he wound up in utter pain.
So, not sure where to go nor how to begin,
He sat down and had a large glass of gin.