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Friday, 20 April 2012
Creatures from the ice
The things they ask of me would make you weep.
In melting ice from ancient sleep,
the first one found by humankind,
named after shale where I'd reclined -
so was I kin to cat or rat?
What did I like for habitat?
Was I clothed in fur or hide?
Half blind, was I? or eagle-eyed?
They found me in the permafrost
and danced for joy to think the lost
retrieved complete with all its bits.
They've reconstructed... guessed at wits
I might have had at my disposal -
I, who was apocryphal.
And then I'm reading in the news -
it makes me want to hit the booze -
of other creatures tombed in ice
as thoroughly as ever I. Not nice
to think exploding them
is all they have for stratagem.
But see, it's not Siberia,
and they aren't some exotica.
They're cows, n'est-ce pas?
It's quite bizarre
and not clear cut...
they froze inside a ranger's hut...
to think the care restoring me
is not for them - another post code lottery!
.........................................................
I was halfway through writing a poem about a creature found in the melting permafrost when I read in the paper of some cows who had wandered into a ranger's hut in the Rockies and got trapped there. They froze solid, and the authorities were perplexed to know what to do about them. The latest suggestion (then) was that they might use high explosives to disintegrate them.
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10 comments:
that is pretty crazy on the cows...i remember watching ice man as a kid...on a caveman found and reanimated....discoveries in ice are cool in that they are preserved in some sense....blowing up the cows though, ack....
This is really clever! Poor cows . . .
Quite entertaining and, as ever, very surprising. Marvellous the n'est-ce-pas resounding in not clear cut.
You'd think common sense would prevail, why not just wait for the poor moo cows to thaw out instead of blowing 'em to kingdom come :-).
This makes me sad!
I'm with Mary. And cannot understand the need to explode the frozen beasties. Unless of course the mythbusters are up that way.
Spectacular, Dave!
It makes me pose some questions about the modern method ... Difficult but interesting verse. Thank you, Dave.
Brian
I was just astounded when I first read it. Haven't been able to discover the eventual outcome. The hut was seven miles from Aspen, apparently.
Mama Zen
Thanks for saying. Poor cows, indeed. Most undignified!
Tommaso
Thanks a lot. I didn't think I could get too deep with this one.
Windsmoke
Yes, that thought did occur...
Mary
First I thought: horrific. Then sad.
The Elephant's Child
Ah! They darned mythbusters do get everywhere!
bard
Thanks for this. Good to have your visit.
haricot
I do believe that modern methods get more difficult with each passing day.
Those poor cows!
It must have been agonising to be trapped there and slowly freeze to death.
If only animals had mobile phones...
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