A Boa on Goa
It's quite a mistake to think that a snake is slimy, or greasy or wet
If you hold me you'll find, as I slowly unwind I'm dry and I'm quite nice to pet
But then I'm a constrictor and if I was stricter in my use of words, I would say
That your fears I can soothe, for my body's quite smooth, you might like to hold me one day
I am a sand boa and I live on Goa and spend all the day in the sun
I lie 'neath the sand and you will understand it's so I'll not be overdone
For here I am cooler, the sun can be crueller than fire that burns in the night
My eyes stay above and I really do love to wait for my prey to alight
A mouse, rat or a bird I will take undeterred as I strike and my aim is to frighten
I erupt from the sand, and they cannot withstand my bite, then my coils start to tighten
I employ constriction. It's no contradiction to say that their deaths are quite slow
As they breathe out each breath they are nearer to death as I tighten my coils just so
They then cannot breathe in and to their chagrin they realise this is their fate
They squawk or they squeak and then no longer speak and I keep constricting and wait
I will swallow them whole any bird, rat or vole and slowly digest them at leisure
And it must be confessed that I then like to rest. I find it a comfort and pleasure
There can be no question. It aids my digestion. I'll be happy with some meals for days
My appetite burns as my hunger returns and I hunt for my prey, eyes ablaze
It may sound revolting to think I am bolting my food down in one gulp or two
But teeth I have none and I would be undone if I had to lie here and chew
So let me recap, for I'm that kind of chap, when I say you could hold me that's true
But I am known to bite and it wouldn't be right if I took a chunk out of you
So take it as read and get into your head that a snake is not greasy or slimy
If you want to touch me or stroke me or clutch me beware I might bite - so don't try me
Consider This
If you study mammalia out in Australia one thing is certainly true
The mammal society has great variety; size, shape, range, colour and hue
From the fast to the slow. You should be in the know of the diversity of them all
From the huge to the tiny, the smooth to the spiny. They may shock, delight or appal
Let's examine the possum. It hides in the blossom, retires to its nest, as it's shy
They will sleep in the day but then come out to play when the moon's shining bright in the sky
There's the black flying fox which lives mainly in flocks in swamplands. These 'camps' are amazing
In their thousands they swarm through the air damp and warm. On mangoes they're often found grazing
Oh, and then there's the quoll which appears rather droll in its coat which is spotted with white
Yes, it may fool you all, this sweet marsupial, as it scavenges throughout the night
Despite its cute looks you will read in most books that its numbers are sadly declining
Now restricted you see to an island and we know how this can be quite confining
Oh Tasmania's great but it may be too late to enable the quoll to survive
Let ten more years go by and we'll be asking why there's so very few still left alive
Now you must know it's true that the red kangaroo at hopping is truly no slouch
A prodigious athlete, it can leap forty feet that's with no joey inside its pouch
The long nosed bandicoot is exceedingly cute and it sounds like a trumpet when scared
It digs conical holes, which is rather like moles but they really should not be compared
For the bandicoot's snout is what singles it out. Her proboscis stands out from the crowd
Her olfactory senses are clever defences. With a nose of which she can be proud
Without any delays, after only twelve days after mating she produces young
There can be up to five, they will wriggle and writhe as their mum cleans them up with her tongue
And a numbat you'll find is a similar kind of small creature that lives in the trees
With a long sticky tongue it will snuffle among the termites that dwell in the leaves
Allow me to repeat that a termite's a treat. They will swallow them down in one go
But you must be aware they are getting quite rare which is such a pity you know
Industrialisation and urbanisation are reducing its sources of food
So by carrying on, they soon all will be gone, yes, forever. That's what I conclude
Now sometimes when you're walking, what might stop you talking, is seeing a small wallaby
It could be a shocker for if it's a quocka think how charmed and delighted you'd be
It's the size of a cat. Well now just think of that. To stroke it you just might feel inclined
But do not even touch it, no matter how much it looks sweet and as though it won't mind
You'd be breaking the law. They'd be trouble in store if you thought feeding them would be fun
You would quickly be brought into federal court and your chance of reprieve would be none
Feeding trash makes them ill, yet some people still think it's fun to continue to do it
They are ignorant folk who think it's just a joke but that is the wrong way to view it
Their survival status has reached a hiatus. They're considered a vulnerable beast
Resist giving snacks or caressing their backs then their numbers might not be decreased
Let this be an incentive though not comprehensive some thoughts I have tried to impart
For what it is worth, let's look after the earth and today we could all make a start
Don't buy exotic pets that end up at the vets because they are too much of a bind
It makes me so annoyed that they might be destroyed. I believe it is more than unkind
Don't leave line when you fish for nobody would wish to see poor, strangled birds. It's obscene
Or discard a sharp hook, why not take a good look before finally leaving the scene
And it makes me feel bitter to see all the litter that unthinking folk leave behind
All the cartons, the tins that should go into bins, it's the waste of unthinking mankind
It's important to note as you cruise on a boat all plastic that floats in the sea
Don't be fooled into thinking when all this is sinking that from it we now will be free
Try using your head. Think that on the sea bed many delicate creatures exist
All this poisonous stuff will be more than enough to destroy them and they will be missed
They might well hold the key for researchers you see, to solve medical riddles and such
Why not bag up your trash take it home in a stash. To recycle it doesn't take much
Though you may live China or South Carolina, the story's the same everywhere
Yes, in Britain and France, you can tell at a glance that some people do not seem to care
In Belize or Botswana, the U.S., Guyana, Honduras, the warm Windward Isles
Wherever you travel, it all seems to unravel when plastic is heaped up in piles.
From Europe to Asia, Brazil to Malaysia the times running out for the planet
The seabirds are dying, there's no use in crying the albatross, petrel and gannet
And the cormorant, tern, cause us all great concern yes, it's time we woke up to their fate
For eventually we'll have poisoned the sea and realise that it's all too late
Let us all be more green. For the future we've seen. A hot desert of plastic and dust
Our great planet, not green, would be something obscene. All the land a dry, infertile crust
Everybody should aim, (for we are all to blame), to clean up our own way of living
Then the earth will revive and the planet survive. Nature has ways of forgiving
The Badger
I am falling into blackness on this long and lonely night
I am falling from a bullet in my spine
I am falling like a stone that has been hurled into a lake
I am falling in the shadow of the pine
I have hustled, I have bustled, I have clawed my way through life
I have taken all the food I felt was mine
I am noisy, I am clumsy, I've survived the winter snow.
I am part of nature's intricate design
A robber's face, a bully's frame with short legs strong and true
And with claws to tear and rummage in the earth
But now it seems I'm chosen to be culled by those who know
I'm an innocent. For all that that is worth
I am falling into darkness but I'm not afraid to die
I am falling through the deep and darkest sett
I am falling like a useless, withered, darkened autumn leaf
I am falling. This is all the time I get
