Ph: Humour: Why Do Turtles Cross The Road? Poem by Brian Johnston
Ph: Humour: Why Do Turtles Cross The Road?
‘So why are the turtles crossing the road?
My sister asked wonderingly
As each turtle would come into view.
No guarantee, but sometimes we'd see them
As we drove with Dad out of town
Checking out cows on a farm or two.
‘It's a great mystery to me, ' I said,
‘As both sides seem really the same,
And our vision's much better than theirs.'
‘The problem I see with crossing for turtles…
Is that they're low and also slow
So fast autos catch them unawares.'
A nice gesture, Dad would frequently stop,
Let us scoop them up in a box
For the ‘turtle farm' at our home place.
The grip's important when picking them up
‘Cause turtles can scratch, bite, and pee,
Oh what a joke, … ‘turtle won the race! '
But now why does a turtle cross a road?
Perhaps he's trolling for people?
Buggers don't care about other side,
From industries' leaders they take their cue,
Their mentors, short visioned and slow,
Who risk their lives to get a free ride.
July 27,2014
A memory/joke poem combo (2 for 1) !
I like the memory aspects of this poem - the rapport between brother and sister with the father - the responsiveness of you to your sister's question - and the rescuing of turtles stuck on the concrete. I trust none of these details were just invented! Overall, I think this poem works very well as a Memory Poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/23/2024 9:26:17 PM # 1.0.0.1119
i think daniel brick says it better. it sounds more like a 'memory poem' than a 'joke poem'. BUT i think the kids were not rescuing stuck turtles, but doing as kids (including myself.....years ago) have a tendency to do [adults also have this tendency]: disrupting the ecosystem! ! ! i took home some snakes and once a rabbit; that would make a short-short story. what do you think happened to the turtle families when their moms or dads did not come home from work or the beauty parlor? ? ? ? answer me THAT! i bet some turtles were picked up AFTER they crossed the road, just before they got home! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - nice rhyming and rhyme scheme; i'll give BJ that. ============== but these lines buggered ME: [well, maybe BJ and i should both be careful about using the word bugger; it has some interesting definitions i see! ] From industries' leaders they take their cue, Their mentors, short visioned and slow, Who risk their lives to get a free ride ..........are 'we' saying that leaders of industries (like the CEOs of manufacturing companies) get a free ride? are they the mentors of the turtles? ? and are the CEOs et al all short-visioned and slow? they risk their lives? ? hmm? of course i'm not an economics professor. overall i liked the poem. i would have ended the poem sooner, but then the 'joke' may have been left out? my dad just stopped for me to pick up roadkill.....for our dinner....... (i'm kidding, but i've heard it is legal in some state(s) , and why not? !) thanks for sharing. bri :)