Manatees

Manatees meandering in the bay today

Gentle giants gracefully grazing

Mother and baby drifting together

Occasionally surfacing for air

Boating battle scars on their backs

Proof that the manatee boating warning signs don’t work

Can we ever live in harmony with this harmless seacow

Threatened by red tides and loss of habitat

10% of the Florida manatee population died in 2021

Mostly from starvation caused by destruction of seagrass

They have no natural enemies

Except humans who are progressively developing the shorelines

Carelessly running boats over them

Or discarding fishing gear to entangle them

So sad that these creatures are mostly hidden from view

Most people are unaware of their presence or their plight

Manatees meandering in the bay today

But for how long?

Pomatoceros triqueter

Pomatoceros triqueter

What kind of animal has such a name

Is it related to the rhinoceros

Does it have three horns

Perhaps a fearsome dinosaur

For those have not yet Googled the name

It is a small tube worm

Found on rocky english coasts  

A filter feeder with colored bristles

I  studied this creature at school

In a biology class

More than five decades ago

I am still trying to understand

Why I can recall the name of this creature

The class was not at all exciting

The teacher was not that memorable 

I do not even remember her name

I was never turned on by worms

Nobody feinted or self combusted in that class

Yet that little worm burrowed into my brain cells

Waiting for its moment of fame

I never quoted it during a job interview

I never used it as a dating pickup line

I never talked about it at a dinner party

I never scored a win at scrabble with it

It just sat there patiently for over fifty years

Waiting for its fifteen minutes of fame

Well now you got it mister

You are in a poem

That will be read by others

Who will each have your name

Burrowed deep into their memory cells 

Waiting patiently to be recalled

Sometime in the next half century

Peter the peacock

Peter the peacock was roaming around

Dragging his long tail feathers behind him

Wondering what today would bring him

Hoping for some fun with the ladies

He pecked the ground in search of food

While keeping his eyes up and alert

Suddenly he spotted a group of five peahens

They were slowly walking down the other side of the street

Now is the moment declared Peter to himself

He rushed across the street towards the ladies

Pausing about six feet away from them

Lifting up his tail feathers into a magnificent display

Proudly shaking the huge fan of vibrant colors

Peter was convinced this sexy dance would yield results

He spun slowly left and right while keeping his fan high

Come join me ladies he said

Look how stunningly beautiful I am

We could party all night and have so much fun

The ladies were unimpressed  and continued to chat amongst themselves

Janet thought Peter was far too vain

Linda agreed and said lets just ignore him completely

Kate thought Peter was cute but agreed to show no interest

Christina boasted that she had once been with Peter

Saying she got tired of his constant displays and profound vanity

Peter kept shaking his fan and crept closer to the ladies

Pam led the ladies further down the street

Lets go find lunch in a quiet spot over there

Peter stood his ground and watched the ladies drift off

When they were far away he folded his tail feathers back down

Shrugging his shoulders after being rejected 

Whispering to himself while pecking for food

None of them were that cute anyway he muttered

Apart from Christina but she had too much of an attitude

Percy the peacock strutted up alongside Peter

How is it going Peter he enquired

Peter told him he was tired after displaying his feathers to the ladies

Percy said its best to play hard to get and let them chase you

Yea said Peter, who needs girls anyway

Lets go watch the football game instead, we can see the TV in that house from the front lawn

Peter displayed his tail feathers on the front lawn

Attracting the attention of the homeowners

Percy took advantage of the distraction and ran around the back to steal some beers

Percy and Peter watched the whole game

The ladies walked back down the street and paused near the guys

Janet said just look at them, totally engrossed in football and beer

They don’t even notice we are here at all said Kate

Lets see how long before they start lifting their tail feathers said Christina

The ladies preened them selves and applied fresh makeup

Peter and Percy chugged down more beer 

Keep ignoring them said Percy, it will drive them crazy

Percy and Peter fell asleep once the game ended

Kate suggested they try and wake up the boys

Hell no said Janet, they deserve to be ignored

The ladies wandered off giggling whilst swapping tales of past lovers

Percy and Peter snored loudly, dreaming of cute peahens

Me rabbit too

Rupert the infamous drunken randy rabbit

Had a well known but very unpleasant rabbit habit

Of chasing pretty young rabbit girls

And pulling their cute furry rabbit curls

Forcing them to have his wicked rabbit way

Ignoring whatever rabbit words of protest they did rabbit say

Every evening at the rabbit bar drinking his rabbit ale

Rupert told rabbit tales about chasing another rabbit girl rabbit tail

But Rupert did not have a rabbit clue about what he should rabbit do

When one brave rabbit girl started shouting “me rabbit too

Next time randy Rupert rabbit went out on the rabbit prowl

He was arrested by the local constabulary patrolling owl

No longer boasting his rabbit conquests while guzzling rabbit ale

Rupert was locked up with other delinquent rabbits in the county rabbit jail

Now the me rabbit too girls frolic in the rabbit fields without any rabbit fear

Rupert is behind rabbit bars without rabbit access to rabbit girls or rabbit beer

Hot tea and a wave from a friendly dolphin

On the west coast of Florida

I sat outside by the dock early one morning

A hot cup of tea by my side

The low sun donated a temporary pink hue to the fluffy white clouds

The light breeze danced on the water to make tiny ripples

Birds sang their daily dawn chorus

No sign of human activity

It was my time to be alone with nature

I watched an egret stepping through the shallows

Stealthily searching for sustenance

Just like all other animals

Food water and shelter are their essential yet simple needs

Animals have no need to be fed news 24/7

They have no stress induced by pandemic worries or politics

I wondered what it would be like to have the mind of an animal

Suddenly I saw a big splash in the water

A dolphin surfaced close to the dock

He was probably feeding on small fish

Surfacing again about ten feet from me

We made eye contact briefly

It was long enough for us both to size each other up

I am sure he was thinking about me

Wondering what this human was doing up so early

He swirled around and leapt up high

Slapping his tail on the surface with a loud crack

It was his way of saying hi to me

I waved back and smiled next time he surfaced

I am pretty sure he smiled at me before he swam off

He probably went to his pod to tell them about the human who smiled and waved at him

I could not wait to tell everybody about my fabulous start to the day

Hot tea and a wave from a friendly dolphin

Swans mate for life

A couple sat on a bench beside a canal

A pair of majestic swans glided down the slow moving water

Heads held high and proud as they glanced around

Pausing occasionally to plunge their heads under water

Casually grazing on the vegetation of the canal bed

They swam in unison and were never far apart

Frequently rubbing their heads together in a loving embrace

This pair of swans will stay together for life 

When a swan dies their partner may die of a broken heart

The couple held hands on the bench and watched the swans glide by

Just like the swans they were obviously in love and committed to each other

The average marriage in the US lasts only eight years

But this couple tried hard to make it work

Returning to the same bench every year on their wedding anniversary

Watching the same pair of swans glide by 

Many years later the now middle aged couple sat on the bench

The same pair of elderly swans glided by and paused to greet them

Each couple had raised offspring that had left the nest

But they were still together and enjoying another day at the canal

The moral of this story is simple

If you want a guaranteed lifelong relationship then marry a swan

I forgive you

It was almost midnight on a dark October night

The leaves were beginning to turn and it was cool but with still air

Dark silence was broken by an owl hooting

I stepped outside to listen

He seemed to be in the nearest big tree

It was too dark to see him

A second owl further away was answering his call

I listened intensely for about twenty minutes

I recorded the sounds on my phone

A quick search online revealed a guide to owl sounds on youtube

I was able to compare the sounds and identify them as great horned owls

Unfortunately I could not tell what they are saying

I wonder how long it will be before somebody develops an App for that

One that translates animal sounds into human language

Imagine the joy of talking to your pet dog

Listening to his barking thoughts

Maybe he could teach you new tricks

Like how to identify things by smell

You could ask him to perform clever tricks

Like fetching you a cold beer from the fridge

If I had that App today

I would tell the owl how sorry I was

For all the trees being cut down for housing developments

I would tell the owl I am sorry for all the pollution

Sorry for all the pesticides that disrupt the animal food chain

I wonder what the owl would have to say in return

Hoot hoot….hoot hoot

Hopefully that means “its OK I forgive you”