Blood Sweat - Lincoln Park Zoo Poem by Ima Ryma

This pygmy hippo often hears
I'm "sweating blood" which is not true,
When a reddish substance appears
On me here at Lincoln Park Zoo.
It's really neither blood nor sweat,
But is a gland made fluid that
I secrete so my skin can get
Moisturized in my habitat,
Protecting me from drying out
From all the air stuff around me,
And also waterproofs, no doubt,
My skin when in water I be.

A hippo secrete secret, so
I won't say more of what I know.