Best Badgers Poems
Edited to include "creatures of the night"
They wait for shadows
to rush and fill their forest home.
Then ushered in by the hoot of the owl
or the whip-poor-will’s call,
they appear as silently as the black of night itself.
A fawn in hiding ambles over to a pebbled pool.
Its family follows.
Fireflies flicker about like tiny lanterns
and the incessant murmur of insects
fills the air.
Somewhere – cloaked in darkness – a frog croaks.
Soft splashes in the pool
reveal ducklings paddling along.
Creatures of the night -
badgers, raccoons, and other tiny furry creatures -
scurry through bushes
foraging for prey smaller than themselves.
Ears prick at the sound
of a lone wolf’s howl.
June 12, 2022
When I walk, my chest nearly touches the floor
With tail wagging madly I know I can score.
The judges look at my teeth and nails
I give that steely look that never fails.
My coat is brushed to a high sheen
I am the proudest dog you have ever seen.
Bred to scent, chase and flush out
Rabbits and badgers, with my long snout.
I might be small but a tough customer
Lion hearted to defend my master.
,
So don’t look at size look at content
Judges chose me to win the old codgers contest
With rosette on my collar, nearly as big as my head
I walk around the show arena, thinking, where’s my bed.
Gone are the days when out in the fields I would run
Now I would rather lie in the garden and soak up the sun
My descent was gradual, sedge meadows with wondrous pink orchid variations visited by never identified damselflies, my head starting to swim; erasing time, giving way to a dark canopied wetland of black spruce, difficult to traverse, sloping deer trails the safest path to take, avoiding quick-mud holes. These trails are popular in the forest, as signs reveal, death struggle remains, the saddest.
This is the area I saw the hairless half ape/half wolf like creature block my trail, stopping to look at me deeply, then vanishing like a ghost, without even a ruffle of plants.
Sometimes a plant, flower or insect calls to me "come closer" so I approach with caution; my hand carved heavy oak staff probing for danger, strong enough to ward off bears and badgers, snakes & insect saboteurs, intent on my demise.
With compass and topo I chart my course, knowing each time I visit these wild places in the forest off Lake Superior, it could be my last, so I bring back natural, wondrous souvenirs that fill my day-dreams, content once more, cleansed of my sins by Her Majesty, the forests off Gitchi Gumee.
Authors note...never venture into these wild places alone, always be prepared with survival equipment in your pack.
On the Sixth Day
On the sixth day God created the animals
Oh what fun creating the animals;
Rolled up each sleeve to create all the animals
On the sixth day.
God made cats and dogs and hogs and frogs
Elk and moose – mongoose on the loose;
Singing birds and fuzzy chicks –
The Lord in Heaven even made a tic? Ick!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made camels, rhinos, laughing hyenas
Lions, tigers, funny stripped zebras;
Robins that fly and pigs with curly tails
Roadrunners, coyotes and the slowest snails. Beep! Beep!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made leopards, cheetahs, elephants, oh my!
Bumblebees, ladybugs and all the butterflies;
Bears and badgers, bunnies too!
Koalas down under then made the kangaroo. Yahoo!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made otters, dolphins, seals and grey whales
Beavers, peacocks, squirrels with their funny tails;
Worms that slither and tortoise that creep
Wombats, meerkats, silver fox and fuzzy sheep! Baa!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made gophers, manatees, long-necked giraffe
Anteaters, platypus just to see us laugh;
Walrus, polar bears, doe eyed deer;
Possums and skunks, not to fear! Whew!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made crickets, fireflies, marmots, muskrats,
Jaguar, walking sticks, radar guided bats;
Beavers, ferrets, woodchuck, raccoons -
Made the wolves who howl at the moon. Howl!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made crab and shrimp and gooey ducks
Lobster, cows, grasshopper ruckus;
Horses, ants and donkeys forlorn
But, God didn’t make a unicorn? Oh no!
On the sixth day God created the animals.
God made gophers, panthers, giant roly-poly bugs
Gold fish, spiders, clams in shells -so snug
Birds that swim and fish that fly
All these creations – my, oh my! My, oh my!
On the sixth day God created the animals;
Oh what fun to create all the animals;
Rolled up each sleeve to create the animals –
On the sixth day! Yeah!
Amongst the oaks and the maples and shrubbery so green
Runs a translucent flow, a stream so pristine
It's meandering contours hugging the land
Takes me back to the day, we met unplanned
The sky was pale blue on this hot summers day
Cotton wool clouds in mesmerising display
It's as if you could reach out and brush with your hand
This candy floss coating ceiling our land
Many meadows I walked through capturing the sounds
Listening to her marvels in cinema surround
Technicolour rainbows so radiant to the eye
Such beauty in nature, understandably why
I reach the turn-style that leads to the forest walk
Listening to the breeze through the trees as if they talk
These pillars of stature, as old as grandfathers years
Many stories they could tell, that would bring you to many tears
As I stroll through the leafy lanes, mapped out over many years
Trampled underfoot by it's inhabitants, badgers and beautiful red deer
I now reach the stream as I follow it's meandering flow
To a pool at it's end where past maidens bathed in glow
My ears now pick up sounds of singing and a splashing
Resonating from the pool, a glimpse of pink now flashing
A lady stands before me, bathing in the stream
Scarlet clothing in sporadic lay, am I in some kind of dream
I call out to this beauty as she turns and looks at me
Towards the bank she walks, and invites me in with she
Knee deep in crystal waters our bodies close in touch
My clothing now drifts away, the two of us in clutch
Into our eyes we both now look as blood flows through my veins
Her touch is soft and gentle, my hands now stroke her mane
Deeper we edge out as she floats and hugs my waist
The two of us in join in this beautiful serene quiet place
Our emotion creates commotion as our undulations reach the shore
Ripples of joy they are as underwater hands explore
The coldness incites a reaction, in pert and firm caress
In delightful blend we release, two souls in loving press
Kissing we reach the bank, on her summer dress we lie
Sighing in breathless spoon, we stare at the green canopy sky
Many, many hours have passed, lying naked below the peeking sun
This is the day I met my scarlet woman, the day our lives began
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/love-11.php
For those avid crossword groupies of which I are one,
I'm offering free of charge vital data to add to your fun.
So you're stuck on 15-down for the name of a barren of mules!
Groups of creatures you can now name if you use this set of rules!
A group of apes is a shrewdness and a gang of asses is a pace.
Tigers are a streak and you'd better streak should they give chase!
Can you believe that skittish plovers are called a congregation?
(I wonder, perhaps Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic or other denomination?)
You might see a cackle of hyenas or a tower of giraffes at zoos,
Or if on a Kenyan safari a bloat of hippos or a fleet herd of gnus.
The name for a prickle of porcupines is an appropriate moniker for sure!
A sleek bunch of ferrets is called a business, and, why, I'm unsure.
Pesky squirrels are called a scurry and a warren is for rabbits.
(There are many warrens of rabbits due to their promiscuous habits!)
Badgers are grouped as a cete and leopards are known as a leap;
Moles are known as a labor and a herd or drove identifies sheep.
Parliaments of owls meet in trees and eagles in convocations.
Jellyfish waft about in smacks and peacocks strut in ostentations!
Screeching cormorants are a gulp which sounds mighty weird.
Steer clear of a crash of rhinos since they are to be feared!
Charming finches are called a charm and larks an exaltation,
Turkeys a rafter, frogs an army and starlings a murmuration.
Locusts are known as a plague and cockroaches an intrusion.
An unkindness of ravens and their raucous caws just causes confusion!
Groups of humans are known as Republicans, Democrats or Nazarenes,
Jerks and morons but this barely includes all human species by any means!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) 2014 All Rights Reserved
Also known as a furze-pig, urchin or hedgepig
Your collective name is an array or prickle – how apt!
To me you are one of the cutest animals in the land
Born blind but soon you open beady black eyes
Your little snout pokes out and helps you forage
You love to eat worms, caterpillars and snails
Sometimes a tasty frog, baby bird or eggs
Your body is covered in defensive prickly spines
These are prone to fleas, oh that would make me itch!
Curling into a ball at the first sign of danger
Badgers, foxes and owls are your main predators
How I love the autumn, I find you nestled in the hedgerows
You sleep until you come out to play at night
Sometimes I wish I was like you and could hibernate
Sleep though the cold dull dreary dark winter days
You communicate by squealing, grunting and snuffling …
(I wonder… are all hedgehogs male!)
Sadly you are not very adept at crossing the road
I often see you as road kill and that makes me sad
09~29~14
Contest: Animal Poem
Sponsor: Regina Riddle
~awarded 3rd Place ~
Four season state
Humid with frozen
Organic and dairy
To moving forward
Cows and fraccing
Cheeses and metal
Cranberry bogging
Furniture vendors
Lumber years past
Nature its center
Those unmentioned
Always remembered
Any native spirit
Without exception
Packers call home
Barging on rivers
Schooling Badgers
Big river brother
Paper and welding
Milling and ships
One Midwest state
Wisconsin working
Sunlight dances across the old pond
Reflections of bushes and tree's
Wild grasses grow in the field beyond
The buzz of the bumble bee.
Nature reclaiming what is hers by right
Healing scarred and derelict land
Badgers foraging long into the night
To feed the family they've planned.
The music that the crickets make
The owl taking to the wing
The mole surfaces to take a break
Nature is such a wonderful thing .
Every crevice teams with life
Every bush alive with song
Cock displays to find a wife
How on earth could this be wrong .
Foxes dashing to the den
Vixen carrying her cub in gentle jaws
Animals hiding from the world of men
Here they live by natures law.
My name is Franz Ferdinand
I’m a Dachshund not a band!
I come in coats 1,2 and 3
2 sizes - standard and mini
My coats are smooth or wire or long
Short on legs, my back’s not strong
but take me to a badger hill,
I’ll dig and dig and won’t stop till
I do the job that must be done
And get those badgers on the run.
Form:
Tiny was my first pet and the very same age as I.
With no concept then of life or death, I had no thought she’d die.
A shorthaired, fox terrier dog, with black spots on coat of white,
she was with me when I learned to walk and stayed with me day and night.
Her breed was bred for ground hunting, all badgers need beware.
She’d dig her way into their dens and trap them in their lair.
I didn’t want her hunting them, but she would disobey.
Daddy told me not to blame her, it was just her terrier way.
She would wait for me so patiently when I spent my time in school,
and greet me with a furious wag, so happy she would drool.
And so it went for thirteen years. She was my little pal.
She loved all of the family, but I was her special gal.
She became deaf in her old age, although I didn’t know it.
She was so good at reading minds, she truly didn’t show it.
One day she wandered on the road and didn’t hear the car
that in younger years she would have heard when coming from afar.
I missed my special little friend, and long and hard I cried.
That I'd lost a part of my young life, simply could not be denied.
We buried her there on the old farm where in life she liked to roam
and every badger thereabouts was safer in his home.
Since then I have had many dogs and though I loved the rest,
since Tiny was my very first, perhaps I loved her best.
.
Snowfall so heavy in 'eighty-two
reproduced a Christmas card view.
A biting wind swirled in one foot drifts
over hanging in bridges..makeshift.
The fields flooded into skating rinks
into which each footstep sinks,
cracking under body weight so
not the best place to skate.
Thawing February brings twitching noses
in tussocks of awakened primroses.
Rummaging on hazel boles,hibernating mammals
poke from the holes.
Leafless hedgerows where buds now form
a carpet of white corm,
Badgers forage for food near their sett
renewing their bracken scented couchette.
Sparrow and robin pair off in twos
as lengthening days come into view.
aconite open in rays of sun
below yellow catkins with tails fine spun.
Osier shoots in green corn camomile
as early Spring mornings begin to smile.
Out west, near Black Hills, over South Dakota way,
On land where layered rocks records eons before –
Some thieves rode the badlands that hot steamy day.
Rough riding rustlers raided a ranch; stole a boar.
Those thieves took, tackle, grain, food, and wine grapes.
Two rife and rifled cowboys planned to settle the score!
Rugged and fearless with sweat on hot napes,
They rode where the rattlers and bull snakes call home.
Both galloped fast and hard … must not let thieves escape.
But they stopped with their horses when they saw bison’s roam.
Felt stillness; saw vastness; amazed, each life reshapes.
The wilderness teaches with its silent, “Shalom.”
Paused, distantly viewing weird-wonderful shapes.
Great towers of fossils that give wildlife a home.
Two soul-searching cowboys ponder nature’s landscapes.
While prairie dogs and cottontails run for the loam,
The bobcats and vultures look down on the plains.
And turtles stay still in their portable home.
The Bighorns and badgers walk gullies in rains.
Meadowlarks sing songs while pretty pronghorns prance.
There, valleys hide critters in flowers and grains.
It’s a desolate land; so, it seems at first glance.
Plenty of majestic views extending for miles,
Masking deadly dangers that stalk the great expanse.
But back on the ranch families stock up woodpiles,
They tend to the gardens, feed chickens, and cows.
Their work is quite hard but they manage with smiles.
The villains still steal and the farmers push plows.
But two soul-searching cowboys made Heavenly vows.
Copyright October 12, 2014
Written for Poetry Soup Member Contest: Cowboys in the Badlands -
Sponsor Isaiah Zerbst
God asked Noah to build an ark
he was happy to oblige
but he wasn't so keen
when he found out
what had to go inside
Two of every animal
then you must set sail
the animals were fearful
the whale began to wail
Even the Gnu knew
this idea would surely falter
but every beast preferred this idea
than being led by nose to slaughter
Noah followed the order
from gnat to lion to horse
this was a recipe for Pandamonium
but Noah knew this of course
Seating plans were issued
but an almighty row took place
The lion the king of the jungle
argued that he was a special case
The Queen Bee wanted second billing
while the Emperor penguin demanded a throne
while the homing pigeon panicked
at not being able to find his way home
Nightime was the worst
sleep was beyond them all
with the woodpecker continually pecking
and the gloworm lighting up the hall
The doves tried to keep the peace
as all hell broke loose
while bets were taken on who had the longest face
the horse, anteater or moose
The pandas tried to be romantic
sleep deprivation made their eyes go black
the magpies kept stealing the others duvets
and the squirrels were nuts to turn back
The elephants said they'd never forget
and they wished they packed more in their trunk
while the terrible smell that stunk out the place
was eventually blamed on the skunk
The bears awoke with sore heads
they had drunk all their supplies in one night
while the hyenas found it hilarious
at their next door neighbours plight
The crows shouted blue murder
but the bats were blind to it all
the ravens were ignored by the masses
as all they said was 'never more'
The maggots agreed it was just rotten luck
to be stuck in this mobile zoo
and every time the peacock showed his feathers
it made the pigeones coo
The badgers were set in their ways
the sheep said their wool was a curse
while the spiders got a verbal warning
for using a sows ear to weave up a purse
Finally they found dry land
the hare raced out in the lead
while the tortoise said there was more to life
than doing everything at top speed
Noah was happy that the journey had ended
and this was the end of the road
but at least one species had enjoyed the trip
the rabbit population had increased ten fold!
Indigenous forest so awash with trees.
Leaves strum a tune in the cool Autumn breeze.
Rustling rowans and galloping ash.
A rustic blanket for a well trodden path.
Plum tinged foliage,fleet of foot in the dance.
Melancholy movements has me in a trance.
Woodland dance floor with pine-needle skin.
Acorns descend hit the floor and join in.
Ancient great oak stands fearless and tall.
Watchfully presiding over each leaf that falls.
The seasons will pass and flowers will flourish.
All dancing their feet in Gods soil to nourish.
Drifting of herbs and bluebells in spring.
Come Summer,a chorus,the nightjar will sing.
Badgers emerging on mild winter nights.
Flittering bats in forest twilight.
Crossbills and siskins searching for fruit.
Goshawks and buzzards circle and swoop.
Indigenous forest,a landscape supreme.
Take the kids there tomorrow,its got to be seen.