Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Under the Sea




image from cesdeals.com


Under the Sea

“I usually solve problems by letting them
devour me.”--Franz Kafka.

Penny Plankton could not swim against
the current.
Sam Sardine gobbled up Penny and her pals.
Sam smiled at his good fortune.
Bradford Bass munched up Sam easily, but
Bradford was still hungry.
Then Timothy Tuna swallowed Bradford whole.
Timothy was happy with his feast.
Sidney Seal scarfed up Timothy in three bites.
Sidney giggled because of his wonderful lunch.
Olivia Orca devoured Sidney while he slept.
Olivia shared her meal with her two calves.
Walter Gray Whale ate up Olivia in one big bite.
Walter felt like the Sultan of the Sea,
for he was the biggest creature under the waves.
Nothing was big enough to eat him.
Mister Morton was a professional whaler,
and he harpooned Walter last week.

All these events may seem cruel or sad,
but this is Nature’s Way,
and we cannot change it.



Glenn Buttkus

Children's poem

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

11 comments:

Candy said...

One of those hard life lessons every kid will learn. Love your cast of characters.

Dwight L. Roth said...

Great job showing the cycle of life! Loved the picture as well!

Frank Hubeny said...

I used to make drawings as a child of many fish swimming in line each eating the smaller one in front of it. Your poem reminds me of them.

Jade Li said...

Glenn, this one kids would love to see the illustrations of, racing to turn page after page to see who eats who next. Maybe you could put a page in there for Greenpeace who stops the whalers? Or the whalers and Green Peacers battle it out as the whale swims away? A child needs hope.

Kim M. Russell said...

I was really tempted by that quote and changed my mind at the last minute – I love that you’ve taken it under the sea, a place where so much is devoured without us noticing! I also like the names of the creatures. I felt the sting of the harpoon ending, Glenn, but as you say, this is Nature’s Way, and we cannot change it.

calmkate said...

a great tale with colourful characters and magic pic!

Alexandra said...

Channeling not just Kafka, but also Roald Dahl.

robkistner said...

The weak always succumb to the strong. It is called culling and it is essential for the excellence of a species — cruel, but essential!

Amaya said...

"Eat, drink, and be merry.
For tomorrow we die." Glad to see all the creatures died with lifted spirits. We can't change nature, no. But I still could never hunt or even eat meat. It's my nature:)

lynn__ said...

Ah, a cleverly told tale about the food chain...interesting take, Glenn!

brudberg said...

And hear I expected captain Ahab to come last in line with the whale... love the names they are so clever.

And in the end we all eat processed planktons I think