Wooden Animals Poem by Robert Sheridan

God saw the great wickedness
Decided to wipe mankind
However one righteous man
Found favor in God's eyes
Gave very specific instructions
In preparation for a catastrophic flood
Noah built a boat quite wooden
Brought into the ark two of all wooden creatures
Female and male - diverse varieties of animals
Moved mechanically up and down;
You think a wooden animal
Is a simple thing
Wooden masks
Wooden decoys
Terrific colors, magnificent
Animals painted withdrawn and shy
Close together
Sailed the skies;
After they entered the ark
Noah cocked his eye and said, 'looks like rain”
For a period of forty days and nights
Sailed on a river of darkened light
Salt water under it
Once it was a boat, quite wooden
With no business
In need of some paint
I am sorry, but it was morning
I had nothing to do
And its wooden beams were so inviting
Hoisted her, rigged her
Seen the floating ships before
And nothing will ever be the same
Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth
As a sign of this everlasting covenant God set a rainbow in the clouded sky
The flood subsided
And the wooden animals
Like worn sea-shells
Emerged strange and lovely
Atop Ararat
Disembarked from a ship of courage.

'2007'