Animal Poems

There are many animals which grace the planet, and so many are so beautiful. They deserve some thought, so I have written some poems dedicated to a few of my favourites. I will add a few more at a later date.

The Pigeon - A Tale of Two Cousins
 The city pigeon has few manners

A wood pigeon - not to be confused with a city pigeon!

Swooping down to peck up crumbs
And waddle aimlessly up high streets;
Gazing at pastries
Hoping they will be forgotten .
Chattering quietly, and tilting heads
In a politely puzzled fashion -
Or staring gormlessly at passers-by.

More refined country pigeons can be found
In parks and trees near villages. Cooing 
delicately, and alighting on branches nimbly.
Drinking crystal water from birdbaths,
Building feathered and fungi-ed nests
For creamy-shelled eggs 
And disgruntled, naked chicks. 

To fly and flap, and caw and coo
Is the lifelong aim of the pigeon.


The Whale
 Hark! the moan, the gasp, the song
Of a whale.

Diving and leaping out from the depths, with
Immense power and strength.
For a creature so big and collosal
It couldn't be more gentle.
Elegant, blue, barnacled giants.
Whose language is only music - 
Liquid notes of pure intelligence to pass
From mother to calf,
to father, to leader.
Shrieks and growls, groans and quavering crochets 
of  messages and conversations.

Traveling miles upon watery miles
To arrive at breeding grounds.
But to cover such distances, although so
Great and graceful,
It requires not force, but harmony
To make the sea work alongside you.
Not battling the foamy tides, but
Swimming with them. That is true power.
The true power only nature can provide.


Puffin Antics
Have you ever had to pleasure
Of watching a puffin walk?
I have.
It starts as a wiggle, out of the burrow.
A hop, a skip, to the daylight.
With wings outstretched and beak held high
It stumbles and falls flat 
On its face. 
With a dignified shake of a solemn head, 
The journey begins once more.
Waddle, waddle, across the grassy clifftop 
Wings stretched as far as nature allows
Finally the edge is in sight. The sea beckons.
With startling speed, the puffin gallops across the rocky pathway
Orange blurs carrying it fast, faster, faster
Until a protruding lump of granite slows the athlete to a standstill.
Chest puffed up, the stately walk to the rim of the sea 
Is over. Now, with a dive, 
A splash of salt,
It's gone.
Into the sea it ploughs, and emerges with a beakful
Of sand eels.
Head, tail, head, tail all along the row.
And now... 
The walk back to the burrow!

Green Sea Turtle, King of the Seas

Flippers flap, and glide the water's bird along.
With the shield of glory perched upon its back
And the stately long neck, stretched imperiously out
To survey the ocean kingdom.
Tiny fish, oblivious to the sea king,
Dart around his throne.
But he smiles, and lets them go free -
They don't know any better, after all.

For he is the ruler of the ocean,
With his armor of patterned plaques
Festooning his wrinkled green back.
Aged-spotted cheeks soft and inviting
And liquid eyes ever searching the seas.