Glitter

                                                                                                           Brenda Bryant

GLITTER

'Glitter', on a human scale

Is, very often, gaudy;

Cheap and nasty, over-the-top,

And hinting at the bawdy.

On the stage it looks quite good;

It brightens-up a play.

In daily life it's out of place,

And not for the everyday.

'Two-Dollar' shops are fond of it,

It's great for fancy-dress,

But glitter, when it's over-done

Is nothing but a mess.

Nature is a different case;

Take a look at this sea!

That's how to handle glitter.

That is pure poetry.

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INDIGNITY AND IMPUDENCE

Here they go again! Those wretched upright creatures!

Fiddling with our DNA and altering our features!

I was once a mighty wolf, roaming the barren wastes,

But, seemingly, a mighty wolf was not quite to their tastes!

Oh no! They had to bribe us with little bits of food,

And their designs upon us were completely misconstrued!

We thought they were just friendly and we barked and barked with joy.

But no! They merely looked at us and saw a future toy!

Over the years they bred us to be fat or to be thin,

Or to be full of wrinkles with a very wobbly chin.

They bred us to be skinny, or cuddly perhaps,

Breeding us to nestle in fat ladies' ample laps.

They trained us to go sniffing, they trained us to pull sleds,

They sometimes squashed our great big brains inside much smaller heads!

They tell us that they love us, but I never see the proof!

We have become automatons with a humble doggy 'Woof!'

They tie leather straps around our necks and drag us round on leads,

And they carry little plastic bags to attend to our basic needs!

Now, above, see the ultimate foolishness! Indignity? Oh yes!

This dog is a noble creature but no-one would ever guess.

There's not much wolf left in him; look at those mournful eyes!

No doubt he'll be dragged off to a show and win the 'Comical' Prize.

But does the wild still stir in him when the full moon comes around?

Does he remember wolfish ways, poor humiliated hound?

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