Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Submarine Sensation

                           Semenov

RUBY TUESDAY

SUBMARINE SENSATION

Oh Jellyfish! Thou haunts the deep,
And, similarly, when I sleep,
Thy tentacles enfold my brain
Wafting from thy black domain.
Some people fear the squirming snake
And hissing sounds that serpents make.
Rats that nibble human toes
Disturb some minds, when in repose.
Spiders are creatures that create
Terror as they lie in wait.
But, Jellyfish, thy tentacles
Are horrifying spectacles!
Thy sightless look appears to peer
Into the dark and spy me near!
Thy jelly blubber is nauseating
Utter revulsion in me creating!
Imagine if thy floating hairs
Should catch this swimmer unawares!
Imagine if I were entangled,
Sucked at, squeezed and even mangled!
They tell me that, in far Japan,
Jellyfish the size of man
Float in their millions in the seas
In wafty giant colonies!
Even thy watery friends, the sharks,
Don't rate the exclamation marks!
And, judging by the number here,
You'll realise I have a fear
Of jellyfish. But I never swim!
So the chance of meeting one is slim.
And thou art a pretty red.
In thy defence that can be said.
*
--------------------------------------------------------------

REALITY CHECK

Little ducks upon a pond
Are things of which we're very fond.
'Look at their little paddling feet!
Look at the ducklings! Oh, how sweet!
See each gorgeous burnished feather!
See how they  swim along together!'
It's only when they're on a rack
That we see them as a human snack.
We see them dangling side by side,
Merely protein exemplified!
We look at them and lick our lips,
Fancying a plate of duck and chips.
Thoughts of 'ponds' are cast away
As we become predators, ducks prey.
Take a look at slices of ham,
Bacon or beef or veal or lamb.....
When they sit upon a plate
In their ultimate gravied state,
They seem removed from agony
As far away as they can be.
They seem inanimate, unfeeling,
Not victims of our double-dealing.
Animals are 'cute' and 'sweet'?
Oh no, they're just our human meat.
But when we see them in a line,
Prepared for a meal (no doubt with wine),
There is a certain reality shape
That our dulled senses can't escape.
'It was ever so' we say
And simply turn the other way.
*


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