ARCHIE SAYS TURTLES ARE PEACEABLE CREATURES *
"Turtles," Archie says, "are
peaceable creatures,
slow,
clumsy,
legs sprawled awkwardly
out to the sides."
And if anybody knows all about turtles,
Archie does.
You, my love, my own, are a mud-turtle,
short tempered,
horny,
armed with a ridge of spines
and snapping jaws.
I, on the other hand, am a box-turtle,
soft-shelled,
stumpy,
shy
when danger threatens.
Fallen on my back, clawing, toes spread
wide apart, I cannot right myself.
Defending yourself, you hiss,
withdraw into your shell,
and squirt out foul yellow musk.
Archie says, "The most dangerous time
in a turtle's adult life
comes
when it is mating."
If there is anything else
you'd like to know about turtles, my sweet,
except why,
ask Archie.
Archie
knows.
*Archie Carr, University of Florida
7 comments:
Crap. I meant to post this on Plodding Taurus!O well.
Open mouth, insert foot. I see you didn't need me to welcome you to the 'sphere, not one little bit.
;-)
It's good to be welcomed! And Welcome to my blog as well! Not many people even know I'm here.... Come again!
Oh yes. I like what I see. Archie Carr? The buzzard in question whacked the windshield not far from UF - my alma mater.
And the Museum more or less hosts the fossil digs I like to go on.
When you have a minute, I'm dying to know what this "Pepek" is all about. And who's the assassinee.
Pepek is an imaginary uncle, the title character of a series of poems I wrote, who killed a policeman for beating a horse. I guess he has sort of become my alter ego....
My husband is an amateur fossil-digger, too. He used to love to go on digs.
I'm glad to hear about the policeman. He deserved it.
I'm not sure I would say that so fast if it were a real-life situation. But then, animal abusers very often abuse humans, too. Especially those they claim to love. And I have very strong feelings about our right to defend ourselves.
Oddly, lots of other humans who advocate self-defense seem to think it shouldn't apply when someone is simply beating you from force of habit.
An alter-ego assassin could be a very good thing to have.
This is excellent , comparing ourselves to turtles. Glad that this weeks Poetry Thursday exercise led me here to read this.
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