The Nuthatch

Upside down,
the world is new.
Your life’s eccentric
point of view
may seem to others
gauche, taboo.
But leave them there,
stuck in their queue,
to gripe, complain,
and cry pooh-pooh.
Though you are inverted,
their hearts are askew.
So carry on!
Your dreams pursue!
And trust your soul
to know what is true,
for no one knows
the truth of you.

Of Eels and Their Mysteries

If ever I came like an eel from the sea,
translucent and shimmering, tossed on the foam,
and learning again what it means to be me,
then let me remember the place I called home.

If ever I struggle to carve out my way,
to grow gills for freshwater, and muscles for mud,
to thrust myself farther upstream and astray,
then let me not lose the deep call in my blood.

And if, after years lurking deep in a pond,
constrained to the dark and the wet and the weeds,
I chance to recall the far place I was spawned,
O let me then follow my heart where it leads.

And then if I find my way back through the bourne
to choke on the salt in the wide open sea,
and if my old self I am tempted to mourn,
then grant me a glimpse of where I’m meant to be.

For I’ll follow the call that I hear in my soul,
though the miles before me are many and wide,
till at last I approach the great Sea of my goal,
and there, in my final and true Self, abide.

The Scotch Tape and the Snail

A nearsighted snail exclaimed to his friend,
“You’ll never believe who I’ve seen!
The gem of the garden from here to lawn’s end—
in my eyes she’s truly a queen!

“Her trail of slime has a marvelous shine,
its stickiness has me enthralled!
And her accent’s adorable—Scottish, I think,
though I can’t understand her at all.”

“Do you think this is wise?” the other replied,
with antennae at skeptical tilt.
“I shouldn’t disparage cross-cultural marriage,
but I think you’d look odd in a kilt.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t so frown, could you hear my heart pound
like a passionate, snail-paced drum!
For her I would crawl through the salt flats of Utah—
But quiet now! Look—here she comes!”

Several minutes later… the Envoi:

“Ach! Dinnae ye fash yersel’, bonnie wee snail,
yer een havnae led ye astray,
fer we’ll doon tae the kirk an’ be marrit at once,
an’ I’ll stick tae ye all o’ me days.”

Doomed

Of impending extinction a sign
is a species’ clear failure to rhyme.

The rare Purple Turtle
from the start was infertile.

And the Great Turquoise Tortoise
succumbed to rigor mortis.

The Monastery of the Honeybees

In robes of golden brown and black,
We rise at very early hours,
To praise the day the Lord has made,
And pay our visits to the flowers.

You’ll find us working cheerfully,
Both in the fields and at home,
And from each tiny devotee,
You’ll hear our constant mantra: Aum.

When the bells of vespers call
We return with all our neighbors,
And in our apis apsidal
We lay the fruits of all our labors.

And there within our sacred nave
All our toils are transformed,
And with the sweetness we have made,
Our souls’ devotion is adorned.

The Moth

flutter-
ing in the dark-
ness, trembling, only know-
ing that to find the light is worth
mere death

The Allegory of the Alligator

Come sit and hear the story of the fearsome alligator—
An instructive allegory (I’ll explain what that means later).
But the first thing that you’ve got to learn is how to recognize one,
So let us our attention turn to the features that comprise one.

They are longer than they’re wide. Don’t believe me? It’s the truth!
And lest you think that I have lied, I’ll furnish you with proof.
We’ll need a box of crayons, a ruler, and some string,
And I’ll show you how to take on this great feat of reckoning.

All down its length and ’cross its width, an alligator’s green
(And green’s the color of envy—it’s what makes a gator mean).
But width it has in just one way, and that’s from side to side,
So now we know that we can say it’s greener than it’s wide.

And next its length you can assess from bottom or from top,
But the green you’ll see is somewhat less, and at the belly stops.
Therefore now some wizard could deduce what you’ve not seen:
That this bayou-dwelling lizard is much longer than it’s green.

Now then there’s this attribute of inequality
Which helps us to compute the reptile’s transitivity,
By which I mean the shape of this here alligator’s hide,
Being longer than it’s green is therefore longer than it’s wide.

But while you’ve been inspectin’ and a-measurin’, it’s true,
He’s gone and et you up of course, ’cause that’s what gators do.
So the moral of this story is—to the best of my belief—
Don’t mess with allegories, and watch out for their teeth!

The Hippo-posthumous

“You cannot get a hippo!”
That’s what my mother said,
But I told her it’s much cheaper
When your new pet hippo’s dead.

And truly she’s a marvel,
This new friend that I’ve acquired.
We even save on vet bills,
Since already she’s expired.

Her ghostly form moves softly,
She is gentle and benign.
She comes when she is summoned,
(I’ve named her Madeleine).

A hippo can be frightening,
A truly savage beast,
But they mellow out quite nicely
After they’re deceased.

Feeding her is simple,
And goes without a fuss,
She floats on through our breakfast,
But she leaves the food for us.

She comes to get me after school,
And meets me at the gate,
And (but in ways she cannot help)
She’s never ever late.

And if I need a nightlight,
Then she sleeps beside my bed,
Her phantom luminescence
Enlightening my head.

And so my best suggestion
For a pet of whom to boast,
Is a hippo large and friendly—
And preferably a ghost.

You

Who are you? What is your name?
What are you like? Perhaps we’re the same.

Do you roar like a lion when bedtime’s too soon?
Do you howl like a wolf when you see the full moon?
Are you wise like an owl? Quick like a cat?
Can you find your way through the dark night like a bat?
Do you slouch like a sloth when you’re just feeling tired?
Do you buzz like a hummingbird when you get wired?
Are you strong like a rhino? Fierce like a bear?
Can you climb a tall tree like a squirrel on a dare?
Do you swallow your lunch all at once like a snake?
Or in bits, like ants taking crumbs from a cake?
Can you run like a cheetah? Hop like a bunny?
Do you laugh like a loon when you hear something funny?
Are you graceful and elegant, poised like a swan?
Do you sing with the birds serenading the dawn?
Can you swim like a whale? Swing like an ape?
Can you fly like a hawk in your superman cape?

Well, judging by all of the answers you’ve stated,
I just have to say that—I think we’re related!

The Otters

There’s an otter in the water
and this otter’s got a daughter
who is on the teeter-totter
but at least she’s got a spotter,
’cause her babysitter otter’s
gonna stop her if she totters.

But the spotter spots another otter
spitting in the water,
so the spotter calls an otter copper,
tattling on the naughty otter.
(It’s the otter copper’s job
to stop the snotty naughty otters.)

So the copper stops the naughty otter
spitting in the water,
but the naughty little otter
is an underwater plotter.

This naughty otter spitter
gets around the babysitter,
and this rotter underwater
makes the daughter otter totter,
toppling down into the water
from her otter teeter-totter.

The haughty father otter
faults the baby-otter sitter,
but the floating daughter otter,
doting on her babysitter,
fits the fault upon the naughty plotting
snotty otter spitter,
so the otter copper jots it
in the naughty otter blotter.

The Owl

As the night falls, I rise.
I lift into the lowering skies,
And welcome the dark to fill my eyes.

Ablaze in flight,
I know the secret of the night:
That we are never wholly without light.

The Frog

Back in my youth, I was so insecure,
suspicious of my body, all the changes
that threatened to upend the life I knew.
A little life it was, though, to be sure—
so limited, unaware what new range,
what scope my life would gain then, as I grew.

And what a life! How little did I know
what joy there is in hopping, what delight
in the taste of flies! Indeed, in all respects,
this life so excels the old that now I glow
with anticipation, waiting, breathless, eyes alight,
wondering what will happen next.

The Tadpole

I don’t think I’m a fish,
but I don’t belong on land
I swim all that I wish,
but I’d rather like to stand.

I’ve got this fancy tail,
though it’s shrinking day by day.
The air I can’t inhale,
’cause my gills get in the way.

These funny little stumps
might turn into legs, I guess.
But I could never jump
with my limbs in such a mess.

Oh, life is complicated
as an awkward polliwog.
I’ll become what God dictated,
but I sure hope it’s a frog!

The Bat

Darkness is never only darkness to me.
When sight, straining, resigns its role
to other senses, I sing my way,
caressing the night with my rippling voice,
and the blackness sings back, blooming with life.
Grasping the shape of graceful echoes
I pull them to me, pressing forward,
all of their bright beauty sublimely clear
in the feeling, hearing, flying, enfolding
dance of perception that dapples the night.
Don’t look—listen: the luminous dark
calls down the dawn of midnight.

The Lemming

What can I say? It sounded like fun,
according to Tyler, who’s into this stuff,
and Madison said she felt like a run,
and Ethan had never been up to the bluff,
and Dominic’s mom kicked him out of his room,
and Emma had got some new shoes to break in,
and Brianna and Kennedy both just assumed
that if Carly was going it must be a win,
and Zachary swore it was safe as could be,
and Cameron’s brother had done it before,
and we all know that Gabriel can’t disagree,
and Claire can’t let anyone say she’s a bore,
and Eva won’t waste such a beautiful day,
and Luke said not going would just be a crime,
and Jayden was sure it would all be okay,
and suddenly then, at the end of the climb,
well, there was the cliff.
                                            So what can I say?
It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The Oysters

Here we sit, just us girls,
in tidepool wavelet curls we laze
around, enjoy the days.
Ah, but then there’s always a catch,
we squirm a bit, we scratch.
Just one grain from our patch of sand,
sneaking in all unplanned,
disrupts us in our grand repose.
Vexation always shows
which ones of us are those who take
it as a challenge, shake
off our discomfort, make a guest
of an unwelcome pest.
And then we find we’re blessed with jewels,
and poorer are the fools
who forget the rule is: don’t quit,
there’s a lesson in it—
that when life gives you grit, make pearls.

The Tick

Don’t mind me—I’m a tick,
and I just want to stick to you,
to be loyal and true,
to be there when you’re blue, a friend
you can always depend
on. I’m ready to lend an ear,
and that’s why I adhere
so closely. You know we’re linked now,
blood brothers, I and thou,
a friendship all endowed with might,
from just a little bite.
And don’t you think that’s quite a trick?

The Hummingbird

Hummingbird, hummingbird, why do you hum?
       I hum to feel glad when the world is glum.
Hummingbird, what if it’s sunny today?
       Then I hum in the hope it continues that way.

Hummingbird, can’t you remember the words?
       I remember them all, and recite them
       at once in both languages, human and bird.
Ah, so that’s why it buzzes. Alright then.

Hummingbird, could you please teach me your song?
       I will, since you ask so politely.
Hummingbird, could I try flying along?
       You may, if you take yourself lightly.

The Whale

Calling to you, I sing my song into the deep,
a love song, long as all the endless seas are long.
The waves of sound and sea will roll on distant shores,
until, one day, my song will find its way to yours.
Searching for you, I sing my song and do not weep,
a patient song, strong as all the endless seas are strong.
The waves of sound and sea connecting everything
will draw us slowly near, until, one day, they bring
our voices into harmony, as we rejoice and sing.

The Python

Here is quite a useful tip, about your average python:
       That judging by the shape of it, you know just what’s inside one.
The long and skinny ones, they can’t have eaten too much lately,
       But when the bulge looks like your Aunt, then you can pass by safely.