Best Lemur Poems
A short while back when Shayla was three, Written just for Barbara's Contest.
I took my granchild's child to the Zoo with me.
She sat in he stroller as we pushed her around,
And she knew almost every creature we found,
Lion goes "RRRR" and Tiger goes "Roar,"
Hippos go "plplplpl" which I'd not heard before.
She knew elephants, horses, gorillas and monkeys,
She knew snakes and Gnus and eurasian donkeys.
Since the day was warm and the child needed a nap,
We sat in the shade on a blanket with her head on my lap.
We ate our lunch as I watched our dreamer,
Who woke and ate hers then pointed up at a lemur.
"Julian" cried the child, "Thats right" cried her mother,
And I looked from one grandkid to another.
When we got home, the child ran to prove it.
In Madagascar, thats a Julian who likes to move-it moveit.
Dancing lemur
Before they catch you
Won't you run away quick
The great hands of fate have squeezed their grip on this infallible date!
Make way, fermenting 7th, for the intolerable October the 8th!
Far, far away the lone lemur leaps with joy to celebrate-
The great, insoluble, improvable, October the blasted 8th!
D.W, dear, with quirks and beauty that torment and infuriate,
Can you not see my flippidy- floppity- flimsy- fedazzled state?
See how my nerves leave me prostrate on the coming of this most magical date!
October the phone a-flippin, Charles J. Dickens, Squawking chickens,
Sexy centaurs strippin, heart sta-ricken, danger dippin' -
October the infernal 8th!
To live a day safely in a city
where citizens must be echoes
and human rights are a fairy tale
but you want your mouth not pinched
your ears not pulled by anyone
or coconut not to hit your head;
a lemur you should be,
the big eyes not to miss coming danger
Live as a donkey-
the long ears to detect dangerous footsteps
Live as a giraffe -
the long neck to enable you see horizon
live as a tortoise
the hard shell to safeguard you
from falling debris
Live as starfish, colored, without brain-
brainless to avoid reasoning,
as this is a taboo
Live as turkey- dumb, foolish-
drinking water only when it rains
with no heavy demands for rights
Live as a gazelle-
take off fast when things are unbearable
But do not exist as mosquito-
you will annoy brain-workers there and,
you’ll be hunted down with clubs
Do not live as a dog-
always foolishly present in waiting,
loyally carrying out dirty errands
your back will be broken with kicks
Like mother Pandas, brain-workers in the city
care about feeding only on bamboos,
can kill offspring by rolling
on them without care!
A bamboo be not, a child panda be not,
a mosquito be not at any moment
Galvanize wisdom and courage with
alloys of foolishness and weakness
if longevity is to build shelter,
in your courtyard.
Never let an elephant in your house
Get a rabbit or a lemur or a mouse
If you’re going to buy a pet
And you haven’t got one yet
Never, let an elephant in your house
Never let an Elephant in your lounge
He will beg and he will pester, he will scrounge
With his oversized proboscis
He's more trouble than rhinoceros
Never, let an Elephant in your lounge
Never let an elephant in your bed
Make him sleep out, maybe in the garden shed
If you let him in your pit
He will fidget, quite a bit
Never, let an Elephant in your bed
© John W Fenn 03-01-2009
We love to make lists,
To describe, name, number.
How can it have value,
If not on my list.
As logger I stand
Before the green forest,
The numbered trees
Are ones to cut.
The forest cut down
Is only to me
Bigger box to live in,
A shiny new car,
The species I slaughter
Are not for my count,
They appear on
Another mans list.
Naturalists say
We'll not care to,
Protect animals
We're not taught
To love.
But lists stand appalled
At life in the forest,
So long they peter
In our dismay,
Jaguar, Lemur
Capybara, Agouti
Blue Morpho Butterfly,
Tree Toed Sloth.
Tapirs, Ocelots
Even Kin Ka Jous,
Countless insects
Eagles and bats.
Scarlet Macaw,
Reptiles, amphibians,
Snakes and lizards
Too many to count.
Epiphytes, bromeliads
The Bougainvillaea
Ferns, moses, lichens,
Quite without number.
Two thirds of flowering
Plants are found
In rainforests
Going on lists adinfinitum
But do you really care.
Capitalist drivers
Economy must grow
Making it cheap
To maximise profit.
Palm oil a desert
Hard wood for looks
Till next years fashion
Changes the rolls.
Who can make lists
Play the accountant,
If the bottom line
Only shows human worth.
How many species are
Bought for ten dollars,
Balanced in columns
Of profit and loss.
What accountants
Hand or eye could
Frame the aeons
That go to create
The beauty
Of the ecology of life.
Tiny movement
On the wicker chair
Jumping spider
Catches the eye,
Instant spring
Strand to strand.
All its being
Compact perfection,
Taut intent
In the moment of life.
Awed to wonder
Begs the question,
How can anyone
Cut the rainforest
That I learn is,
Though never will see.
The humans were gone from this island for twenty million years
Its twenty million years in to the future and those islands are new frontiers
The mother giant lemur her children rears
One of lone lemurs nearby cleans his ears
He jumps on large baobab tree
But this baobab is not the largest tree
He will see
There is one right next to it and related but ninety meter tall beauty
He climbs up and looks at the appearing visage of majestic moon
It will be lemurs’ time to go to sleep pretty soon
The silver blue light of the full moon
Illuminates the deep lagoon
This is the time when like a shadow from the dark
Giant relative of fossa looks to make his mark
In his powerful like moving train but very elastic gate he makes an arc
He is relative of mongoose looks like a cat dog cross but does not bark
Instead he howls like a demon at the night
To fear this animal for any creature would be right
The moon is shinning bright
But even in total darkness fossa has incredible sight
But unlike human age fossa this one is over three meters long not counting the tail
And it looks like it came straight from hell when its teeth it will unveil
His claws also the prey can impale
And prowling this primeval looking forest is this sleek and very dangerous male
He sees a lemur in moons light
He stalks him during part of the night
With fear hundred and sixty kilogram lemur’s face turns white
When giant fossa begins to bite
The fight goes from tree tops to the ground
But other predators hear the sound
The giant crock does not waste time to sit around
He wants fossas’ prey that’s sent he smells like a bloodhound
For a moment fossa is dumfound
Fighting off another predator by fossa gives lemur time to escape without a sound
The crock tries to grab the fossa but fossa jumps back just to rebound
By the demonic agility of fossa the crock is spellbound
Fossa grabs the crock and with enormous strength of the jaw she bites through crocks’ head
Just like that the crock falls dead
The ground turns blood red
And primordial predator continues ahead
Once again he looks to the mysterious moon
Howling to it with melancholic and dreadful tune
He will find another prey soon
Chasing after it with a force of typhoon
dab dab wab?
Under the simplified shade of a sparrows wing one does not strut. It is merely there to shield and shields are shapes and shapes are not shifting. Steel blows to a mud are unwelcome and untimely. Plus they are not akin to an orchestra playing in a beautiful sunlit chapel. Chat then to a small breeze whilst sitting on a rock. A beaver might join in and so might an antelope. But fifty six bison, a wheeled cow, a twisting carbonated cream jug, and an artists palate will never ever speak to such a mild force preferring instead to shout out to storm winds and hurricanes. At this time the prevalence of three minstrels is a lovely sight to behold. And the nine millimetre pool cue will talk when touched. Touching taking talking trampling tearing tyrannical tragedies. And the marking of a six pointed cross. With a circle. And Teflon reflected surfaces are akin to a doormat spinning under feet. A wide mongoose at a visitor centre visualising via video. It takes a little lemur to find a pennywhistle and play productive plateau tunes. But the belch from an uneven toad could disrupt even the finest air from a guitar string strummed by a seven metre galloping pie. Frame that then. Opinions offer octagons order officially. So get on a horse and clap several times. Then go to the mountain rope bridge and go over it at great speed. Upon return lie down in a stable on a table of golden hay. Then neigh yourself to sleep. Neighing ninety neighs. Nuances. Great. Roadworks of cars are annoying but road blocks of ant people are incessantly irritating. Mad circumference of a stomping stomach in a suit. Parading. Like a pin. Ok then. Right what is said is said and what is done is done. And that is it. And further to my duties in this house I will have further such meetings later today with 90 golf balls, a lime and lemon cordial, a fruit bowl, and a misty mash. Hahaha the legs on a keyboard are dancing. Hahaha string strap speaking xxxxxx nominative Z Z Z and deliberations deemed dramatic Z
You are the twinkle in the life
of elephants and blue giraffes.
You conjure them up in your sleep
and give them lots of ginger treats.
Perhaps you ride on lion's backs
and hear of secret planned attacks
on zebra homes and wallabies.
Perhaps you even hear them sneeze.
Maybe you hop in your canoe
and race the river otters too
to find the crocodile flower
and taste the kumquat, small and sour.
I think that all your dreams are true
A red-backed snail with one slug shoe.
A butterfly who sells perfume
and marbles played in moth cocoons.
Bubbles blown by flying fish
and riding them to wherever you wish.
A swirl of purple pearly walls
to protect all of your lemur calls.
A thousand sunset’s burn below you.
A serenade from Him that knows you.
You dream in delicate patterns deep
of animals you're sure to keep
And care for in the paradise
You'll feed the parrots coconut rice.
and scrub the algae turtle's back
while he chews on a lettuce snack.
You'll nestle in the wild bears den
and help them call the salmon friend.
It's quite a sight to comprehend
A dream to make our dreaming end...
I, I am an aye aye
I'm from Lodi
Hi-dee-ho-di
I, I'm a shoo fly pie
Wearing tie dye
Buzzing sky high
I do not lie guy.
What did you say about my mama?
The ring-tailed lemur was not happy now.
I tried to pretend I had been talking to the llama
I knew her sense of humor was not exactly a wow.
The ring-tailed lemur gave me a prissy sniff.
It was pretty clear I had not done what I should.
I was out of there, after that one tiny whiff.
Shoving off from the island, as quickly as I could.
lovely lithe lively lemurs
languishing lovingly lengthwise
laboriously lightening our loads
laughing in lemur-like linguistics
lovely lacksidasical loving lemurs
letting loose leeches live
living lemur-like lightness
lollygagging in lemur-like ways
Madagascar where did you go
For weeks you came to my picnic
My sanctuary
Unceremoniously and unwanted
And mostly uninvited
Like the proverbial red ants
Like a lover I once knew
Everyday ... there you were
A lemur
A chameleon
Perched on my blanket of poetry
Staring with those curious eyes
Yearning for validation
And perhaps a future visit
I must admit you're a nuisance
A pop-up, a laugh, a nightmare
For weeks on end I saw your faces
Burning in my memory
Trolled and uncontrolled
Now that you're gone
I look out the window
I imagine lions, giraffes, and rhino's
Running wildly towards my picnic
connie pacheco
10/20/22
Note-for weeks on end, I would come to this site and be inundated with ads. The Madagascar ad takes the cake. Lately it's gotten worse.
This is the saga of Veronica Vole
Who committed the perfect crime.
She murdered three lovers,
But not all at once,
She did 'em in one at a time.
The first was a lemur,
A two-timing schemer,
Who seduced all thirteen of her nieces.
Every female enticed him,
So she sliced him and diced him,
Then stir-fried and ate all the pieces.
The second, a lobster,
Was also a mobster
Who threatened her once with a putter.
So she got him alone,
Then boiled him well done,
And had him for lunch with drawn butter.
The third was a vulture,
Devoid of all culture,
Whose name, she remembers, was Vince.
He was planning to eat her
After he bet her,
So she tased him in self-defense.
In a big pot she tucked him,
Then scalded and plucked him
And served him "en casserole"
To her fourth beau, a critter,
Who'll make a good fritter,
She thinks as she spoons out his food.
'cause though she doesn't tend
To have good taste in men,
She does tend to like men who taste good.
Ms. Vole is not a siren or a femme fatale,
The kind of dame who'd tell a guy to take a hike.
At heart she is simply a sweet-natured gal
Who never met a man she didn't like.
Rudder than trigger, provoke,
incite..., voodoo curse
necessitating emergency visit
courtesy doctor Demento or his nurse
methought best to craft (airily)
nonsense sickle verse
yikes! maybe iamb
steadily getting worse
as poetaster wannabe,
which prognosis bodes ill
and p'raps best coon sitter
underwater basket weaving
enlist as water boy re: bucket
brigade for Jack and Jill,
hence imagine yours truly
amazingly gracefully dipping quill
within inkwell exerting intense utmost
control to keep right ting hand still
to pen employment
query expressing thrill
and natural born talent
to hand dill
you can easily envision me
balancing bucket fill
water atop noggin donned gone down
appellation trail resembling fountainhead
strengthening neck muscles till
yours truly capable
to shoulder and shrug Atlas
alas especially beneficial
in case arsonist kindles conflagration
preparation guaranteed courtesy fire drill
dashing hither and yon, to and fro
even at expense resembling
beetle browed fool on the hill
nonetheless earning reputation
continually increasing numbers
balancing full buckets with nary a spill
leaping lemur far and wide
globetrotting yawping shrill
excitement acquiring nonpareil skill
experiencing pride without prejudice
(nodding to ghost of Jane Austen),
perhaps launching startup Lil
Buck Kit Waters - drumming up business,
expanding, hiring, kickstarting franchise
oh... wealth estimated at least trill
yon, helping non antagonizing peep hill
drafting, modifying, updating... living will
in case I kick bucket unexpectedly
distributing liquid assets as good will.