There’s an animal park
A half-hour away
Where we went, for the first time,
With Henry today.
I was skeptical, but
It was worth what we paid,
For meandering paths
Lined with trees giving shade,
Led to animals you’d
Not expect to be there.
There were lions and tigers
And more than one bear.
We saw tortoises, emus
And gators and skinks,
Ponies, monkeys, giraffes
And chinchillas (no minks).
Varied tropical birds,
Porcupines, foxes, sheep,
Pumas, jaguars and vultures,
With many asleep.
Still, we strolled and enjoyed
Creatures far from each lair,
Likely wondering how
They had ended up there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There once was an ostrich named Stu,
Whose face made the emus say "Ew!"
But he'd wink and would coo,
Darling, I choose you~
Till a kick proved he'd misread the queue.
-sung to the tune of 12 days of christmas
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
on the first day of christmas, my aussie love gave to me
a koala in a gum tree
on the second day of christmas, my aussie love gave to me
two swimming platypuses, and a koala in a gum tree
on the third day of christmas, my aussie love gave to me
three jumping kangaroos, two swimming platypuses, and a koala in a gum tree
on the fourth day of christmas, my aussie love gave to me
four laughing kookaburras, three jumping kangaroos, two swimming platypuses, and a koala in a gum tree
on the fifth day of christmas, my aussie love gave to me
five ring tailed possums, four laughing kookaburras, three jumping kangaroos, two swimming platypuses, and a koala in a gum tree
on the sixth day of christmas, my aussie love gave to me
six emus running, five ring tailed possums, four laughing kookaburras, three jumping kangaroos, two swimming platypuses, and a koala in a gum tree
What I see in stars above is extremely wearisome,
with useless inane details that I wish I never knew.
Light years, space-time, black holes, big bangs,
myriads of pricks 'n specks a billion miles away - who cares?
I've been over-dubbed, deluded, and robbed,
of the romance, songs, stories,
and delightful spiritual legends
that ancient master star gazers saw
in stars above.
Hunter and archers with sword, belt, arrows and shield,
A veritable zoo of animals - lion, ram, bull, bear, llama, emu,
goat, scorpion, fish and severed heads, under arms.
Pots and pans, the scrub-a-dub dish that
ran away with the spoon.
Regal Heracles, Achilles and Troy in battles raging skyward
Bickering Gods, Virgins, Kings and Queens with kids and twins.
Action-men Pharaohs, wannabee Gods,
leaping from pyramid tops,
onto the ladder of the Milky Way, which is -
The River of Heaven, Road of Souls
The Spilled Breast Milk of Hera the Mother God
The seed-strew pathway the mighty Emus trod,
pecking their way,
In stars above.
We all should get out and look up more!
Gazing with ancient eyes into the sky above,
reveling to see and enjoy what they saw,
in stars above.
Ah, the rhododendrons, dear and bright,
Look at them for a moment, three seconds,
Seek them in the streets, in silence,
Explore the small multicolored gardens,
They are pink, purple, white, shiny, red.
Ah dear rhododendrons, they are crazy,
They drove the Macedonian soldiers mad,
Admire them, they are righteous warriors,
Thracians, Saxons, blue Spartans
They make you forget the enemies, emus,
Ah, the rhododendrons, dear and bright,
Love is no longer enough to believe in God,
Look at the rhododendrons, admire them,
Pink, White, Red, Mauve , Purple, Shiny,
They heal the ills, give back to courage.
NB it should be known that in antiquity, rhododendron alcohol was given to soldiers to make them crazy while fighting ( from memory)
Emus
Emus count their gaits because
giraffes threaten them
to do so.
Heard the kookaburras calling
Saw the snake upon the ground
In the distance rain was falling
Was no shelter to be found
The wind was starting to turn cold
Not much sunlight did remain
Light'ning flashed, the thunder rolled
Emus scattered 'cross the plain
I could hear the distant dogs bark
As if calling me to home
Don't think I'll make it back by dark
But I will bring them a bone
Think I better get the swag set
For this storm is coming fast
This won't be a good night I'll bet
I just hope I get to sleep at last
Had myself a most awful dream
That went for the whole night through
Thought I was washed down a stream
And quickly disappeared from view
They said it was ten inches fell
The whole valley was in flood
My dogs had done their duty well
Found my body in the mud
And I heard the kookaburras calling
expiring experienced excited and enticed enthusiastic emus
extracted exact experimental explosives from exfoliated flues
exasperating exam-free extraterrestrial expedition views
extraordinary x-rayed exclamations exuding as clues.
*Image of Freedom Pub
Freedom Pub
Marred fictions of emus, ostriches
dip their heads neath, were hailed
by Ancient Rome's false divination,
of individuals, whose conquest of
enshrining their implied role.
Emancipated exacters, whereto,
the subjugators of the unlearned
majority, daily context by untruths,
orientations hard-pressed, by
tainted thumbs of paperwork,
loads conveniently,
mache for obvious design.
Decaying precursors demonocracy,
aptitudes knotting promotes,
a panache promenade of quilted
quids, as characters clash with
reality quarrels, as a shoreline
of sculpted castled sands, drift to
its emptiness of their costly
noted, S.O.S.
The absence of freedom is a true
reinvention for the masses, to
rummage and further wander, its
lineage of class enumeration
liken to some zombie apocalypse,
clueless beginning.
Lo and behold, its keepers adrift,
salty surges hath rise o'er, the
fresh living waters.
2023 January 07
*HM*
Freedom Pub
~~Joe Maverick: Judged 2023 January 09
There’s a place in my heart
Where the sun plays its part
And the kookaburras sings
To greet a sunrise that brings
Another beautiful day by
The great southern sky
So when the day is finally done
And the darkness has won
The pastels herald the chandelier above
Heralding the Southern Cross that we love
And from the cool of the evening air
The koalas emus and roos emerge there.
© Paul Warren Poetry
Do you hear the magpies chortle
As the sun rises over the hills
Do you see a koala in a gum tree
As the wind rattles the leaves
Do you feel the sun on your neck
As the summer sun reaches high
Do you see the dust across the sky
As the dry takes hold of the red earth
Do you see the kangas and emus bound
As the cool of the evening settles the earth
Do you love this land with all your heart
As one who was blessed with Australia .
© Paul Warren Poetry
Our great debate is about to start
Over which aspect is the essential part
Of the word 'kiwi' -- Is it that strange-looking bird
Or is it the green, fuzzy fruit that tastes so darn good?
You say a kiwi can't be a bird, because it can't fly
Well, how about emus, and rheas, and ostriches?
They are flightless birds too, say I
You say no bird has a beak so awfully long
Well, just look at pelicans, curlews, and storks
I say you're wrong!
You say alright, o.k -- Consider the kiwi berry
I say the kiwi's no berry -- to the contrary
It's clearly a citrus fruit
You say, No! No! -- A kiwi grows on a shrub or a vine
I concede that may seem like a grape or raspberry
But whoever heard of 'Vintage Kiwi Wine?'
You shake your head and you say
It's rightly called the 'Chinese gooseberry'
While I assure you it's got more vitamin C
Than an orange inside a pail
Of straw, black, blue, and elderberries
Thus concludes our debate
Wasn't it great?
Maybe I won -- Maybe it was you
But when we sat down to eat some kiwi
~ Away it flew!
Kym the Koala liked to climb
And munch gum leaves all the time
In the hot Aussie sun
Up early munching leaves and having fun
He saw jumping kangaroos
And running large emus
But he did not want to be like them
A pastime climbing trees was easier in the end
When up high in trees
He could see far as he pleased
Not being bothered by much
Except birds, insects and such
You see there are different things
That each one to the world brings
Being happy and having fun bound
And differences make the world go around.
© Paul Warren Poetry
CONSIDER THE EGG
The eggs of chickens are very small,
But their use is quite versatile
Compared to the eggs of emus...
Let's think about that for a while.
Can be boiled, scrambled or fried,
Tasty omelettes, or even poached.
They are used in cakes for baking,
Or combined with bacon and toast.
Breakfast's choice is often eggs,
A very good start to the day.
Used in salads and sandwiches
Eggs can be enjoyed any way.
All custard tarts must contain eggs,
Which causes the custard to set,
This isn't done with emu eggs
As chicken ones are the best bet.
Rich in vitamins and protein
In nutrition they're very high,
Not the cause of cholesterol,
Your diet should give them a try.
The egg shell is oval in shape
It has colours of white or brown.
The hen may use a nesting box,
For eggs to safely be laid down.
The chicken's a worthy contender,
Though her eggs are smaller in size,
They're cheap to buy by the dozen
She deserves a Pullet Surprise.
Copyright © Vivien Wade May 2017
Here,are warm times.
Out up in the sky is the golden sun,
Shinning brightly on all.
A food for green plants and the likes;
moulds,sea weeds too.
Featured birds,four-legged land animals.
Agile social insects,out in the woods,
hunting for grains and meats.
At the zoo,are wombats,emus,capybaras,
koalas and kangaroos juggling as games.
You'll here the busy gurgling of waters
from falls and springs.
In the great waters,with the great colonies of
sea creatures;sea lions,lobsters,sea horses,
dolphins amongst many,prey one another.
And there,in the center of the ancient town,
is Mr. Opy,a middle-aged fellow.
Just out to have fun!
All he says is,"it's summer, people!".
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