Author: michaeljordahl

Retired Miner, loves science, reading, carving, walking, recovering alcoholic

Man’s Place

finalspecies

The whale sang,

But I was tone-deaf;

The leopard snarled,

So I ran away;

The wolf howled,

And I closed the gate.

The elephant trumpeted,

The tiger roared,

And the gorilla

Beat his chest,

But I knew not any

Of their languages.

Sadly, I turned around

And looked at the world,

And man’s place in it.

Unexpectedly, a tear

rolled down my cheek,

And suddenly,

I understood them all.

Together, they cried

Out in one loud voice,

“Save us! Save us!”

snakes of the north

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the snow cobras lift

their heads from the drifts

with their hoodies to keep

them from freezing,

and pythons get heat

from the bunnies they meet,

with their snuggling

and hugging and squeezing.

now, out on the lakes,

men tie racer snakes

under their boots

to go skating,

and wolf snakes at night

are a hair-raising sight

when they howl at the moon

before mating.

 

(orig. posted 2/18)