Children’s Poetry

Sketches from Lewis’ Carols

The elephant is a funny fish,
He carries his sea within,
He dives and swims and plunges about
And hasn’t a single fin.

The butterfly is a very strange bird
With very pretty wings,
He does not have a mating call
And never, never sings.

The frog is not a bird at all,
He laughs at every joke,
But he has a wonderful mating call—
You should listen to him croak.

The goose is just the female bird,
The male is called a gander,
But I’m sorry I do not know the feminine
Name of Mrs. Salamander.

The ostrich has two mighty feet,
And it is not because of chance,
For when he crosses the desert sands
He really has to dance.

I love to hear the whip-poor-will
Who only calls at night,
But he must be a bashful cuss,
The way he keeps out of sight.

The flying squirrel does not fly,
In fact he is not a bird,
But he leaps at every chance he gets,
At least, that’s what I’ve heard.

The porpoise also lives in the sea,
Why I do not know,
But if you give him a dinner
He’ll put on a wonderful show.

I am a professional basket ball coach,
Promise me that you won’t laugh,
But my favorite animal, is of course,
The tall and graceful giraffe.