Seen as a collection of spare parts
swimming in close formation
neither fish nor fowl
from a southern hemisphere nation
sewn together as if torn asunder
the amphibian antipodean
from way Down Under
is the odd-looking bottom-feeding
no muss nor fuss
otter-footed beaver-tailed
egg-laying duck-billed platypus
the males of which are venomous
an excellent swimmer
whenever it dives
it closes its ears nose and eyes
altho' a riparian carnivore
electroreception is how it survives
At breakfast I scribble in a notebook
questions like:
why do I feel like a duck-billed platypus
has been nibbling at my brain all night?
The I remember
the billabong, the kookaburra
and the ‘jolly swagman’
all of whom
party-crashed my REM-sleep.
I ask: "Did you dream in the night dear?"
“Flamingo.” she says tersely.
After a pause,
“You ran-over my pet flamingo
with that big stupid truck of yours.”
I thoughtfully butter some toast.
“It was the flying monkey’s”
I replied weakly,
“they made me do it”
A duck-billed platypus
Is bathing on the bus
She left her favorite stream
To join our swimming team
She did so well last year
Her lane was free and clear
Until the final leg
When Platy laid an egg
The hippopotami
Don’t eat the platy pie
Because the hippo bake
Is better served with cake
The platy pie who pluck
Are eating Peking duck
Because the ducks that pry
Are dinner by and by
I knew a platypus
Who shared her duck with us
My dinner pals were thrilled
Because the duck was billed
O what a cunning creature
To don a double feature
The mammal with a plus
A duck-billed platypus.
Yes, we do share our dreams,
of course we leave out the inadmissible,
the dark alcoves and the flying monkeys.
At breakfast I scratch in a notebook,
doodle questions like
why I feel a duck-billed platypus
is still nibbling my brain?
I remember then the billabong and the ‘jolly swagman’
all of whom party-crashed my REM-sleep.
I ask: did you dream in the night dear?
“Flamingo” she says tersely
as if I were prying too deep.
After a pause,
“You ran over my pet flamingo
with that big stupid truck of yours.”
I thoughtfully buttered some toast.
“It was the flying monkey’s”
I reply weakly.
on a sunny shiny day sitting outside in the garden
sipping nectar on a chair at a round outdoor table on the lawn
with my mom, someone else becomes interested in me
I'm only 3 and Fuzzy is my best friend
a stuffed platypus her companionship I didn't want to end
the sweetness of my lips was what attracted my new enemy
he berrated me and I used my hands said "go away"
he continued to persue my soft and juicy lips
when I hit he stung me and I cried
mother started laughing as I sobbed
I didnt understand why she and him were being cruel
until she led me to a mirror and I looked just like
a duck billed platypus
Elephant with crooked tooth
and I did not know they had them
Lion cub in drag
funny to everyone but the cabaret master
prancing around in my thought waves
taking me hostage
Duck-billed platypus
with attitude from Hades,
wearing pink top hat
with glitzy yellow band
unnoticed in this parade
of misfits, even by me
Suddenly swans glide by,
piloting Boeing 747’s,
waving red hankies from cockpits.
Where is this picnic anyway,
I ask my muse who laughs
but refuses to answer.
Written April 20, 2019
Contest: Suddenly Swans
Sponsor: Maureen McGreavy
Plants and animals,
birds n' bees. From
a sycamore tree to
a suckling honey Bee.
The duck-billed Platypus,
the Mongoose. From a
giant Elk to a wandering
moose. Poison Ivy the
trapdoor Spider. A crouching
Tiger of stripes and deadly
stealth. A mighty Rhino
grazing by himself. A weeping
Willow Tree a floating pond
Lilly. The pond Skater moves
with grace. The Kingfisher
stands still like a statue, waits
in his place. Everything in Mother
Nature has it's time and place.
If we open our minds and hearts,
we will truly be amazed.
What in the world is she gonna do
A trip made to the Atlanta zoo
The white silver back
Might cut her some slack
And teach her more than a thing or two
Too late she found out how amorous
Apes are for not being glamorous
A week in his sack
Her sacroiliac
Wished he was a duck billed platypus
On the way home she stopped for a bite
She washed up in the room on the right
As she walked out the door
There on the marble floor
T. P. trailed up her dress out of sight
Foxxy lady I think you have to know
You seem to make a hit as you go
The owner will not mind
Leave the t. p. behind
I’ll pretend to be your loving beau
She turned to see who said this to her
A parrot on a perch caused a stir
Do I look like a bird
Is what ev’ry one heard
As she left spinning wheels in a blur
So don’t go by yourself to the zoo
Take a friend or better yet take two
One watch front, one behind
A foxxy lass won’t mind
The ape waits for a new rendezvous
© May 2010 cgh for PD’s contest
The duck-billed platypus is odd and, if the product of a god,
it's difficult to understand, why such an animal was planned,
but maybe when the rest was done, there was stuff left and so begun
one animal made from the dregs, made wearing fur and laying eggs,
enough left for a creature that, was smaller than a household cat,
with waterproof thick body hairs, packed denser than a polar bear's.
Its hearing's good, its eyesight keen, but colour vision doesn't mean
much to it; strangely still we find, when hunting, it hunts deaf and blind
for underwater, its prey yields, its presence in electric fields
which guide the platy to its kill, through sensors in its duck-like bill.
The mating season brings new quirks, two ovaries, but just one works,
the left one has to do for her, while he sports a strange poisoned spur;
for this creature is, not least, the only furry venomed beast. *
*All the facts above were checked, but one turned out not quite correct
Alas, the last line is not true - there also is a venomed shrew!
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