Saturday 2 April 2011

The Poetry Bus - Animal Magic Special

Time to hop aboard the mighty poetical omnibus once more, ably driven by Titus, who set a prompt for us here.  We were to write about aminal(s), specifically:

1) The Dolphin
2) The Gecko
3) The Panther
4) The Bushbaby
5) The Archerfish
6) The Kingfisher
7) The Harrier
8) The Ring-tailed Lemur

Well, the word 'panther' does appear in my poem below, so it qualifies for a ticket I suppose, but whether or not it qualifies as a proper pome, I cannot say.  I am in silly mode (as usual).  This trifle is best read aloud I think.

What Shall I Be?

If I were good at panthing
Then a panther I would be.
If couging were my forte
A cougar you would see.

In black and white pyjamas,
I’d probably look a dweeb.
But it looks so neat on Zeeebras
‘cos they know how to zeeb.

A lithe and slinky Boa
If bo-ing were my bag,
Or a deadly silent Jaguar
If only I could jag.

So, I guess I’ll have to settle
For the cat no-one can beat.
For there’s one thing that I’m sure of
I do know how to cheet.


Thinking about this kind of silliness reminded me of a children's television programme from my youth.  It was called Animal Magic and was hosted by Johnny Morris, who used to do voices for the animals, as well as telling us all about them.

It's a classic!  Here's a clip where Johnny and an orang-utan wax philiosophical about hats.
 

33 comments:

  1. THIS is why I come here. You slay me, you really do.

    I've added you to my blogroll, if you don't mind.

    Pearl

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  2. Clever stuff, amusing too.

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  3. Pearl - I'm honoured to be on your blogroll!

    Jimmy - thanks, a fine weekend to ye!

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  4. That one made me laugh out loud and grin from ear to ear! Sometimes life should just be silly and light hearted.

    I grew up watching a children's show where one of the songs was about a Zebra....which the child thought was a horse in stripped pajamas. ;)

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  5. I did as you suggested and read it outloud! It is such a funny, lyrical piece ... enchanting. I also got into my goofy mode with this challenge.

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  6. Great stuff! Oh, if only Sir Johnny himself could read it. I loved Animal Magic, and when you see clips it really is still funny.

    Do you remember Dotty the lemur? She is all ring-tailed lemurs to me.

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  7. And would you consent to being part of the light and shade of the book? If I could use this in the project I'd be really grateful. If it's a yes, e-mail me at TitusmckayATaolDOTcom with the name you'd like it to appear under.

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  8. Hope - I agree life should be light - as light as possible.

    Helen - Glad you enjoyed

    Titus - Of course you can use the pome - I'm flattered. I prefer to be known as Delusions of Adequacy, if that's OK.

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  9. That was great - I read it to Dr. M & he laughed out loud. I enjoyed the clip too :)

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  10. PS - Love your new banner :)

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  11. Bug - Glad you enjoyed the clip and thanks for the kind words about the banner!

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  12. Great fun ! thanks for lots of grins-

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  13. I love your brand of silliness. I also remember Animal Magic with fond affection.

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  14. Here in California we never saw Animal Magic, and what I must have missed!
    I had no idea that zebras zeebed or jaguars jagged. It's just fabulous to learn all of this. I like the new header too. The upside down A is brilliant.

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  15. Silly animals got to me too! I'm glad I was not alone...

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  16. Oh yes. A wondefully dotty poem and the broke-the-mold Johnny in one post.

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  17. Ha ha! If I said it was leopardy, would I be in jeopardy?

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  18. Great! laugh out loud last line, and I do wish I knew how to Zeeb too

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  19. ok - so firstly loving the new header on the blog.

    Secondly - and please forgive me if this spoils your illusions - but i once met Johnny Morris and he was mote than ever so slightly pickled, and his "coffee" was about 90% proof

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  20. Izzy - Glad to have made you smile.

    Dave - They don't make 'em like that any more.

    EO - There's always something new to learn :-) ... and thanks for the compliment on my header.

    Jinksey - Great minds think alike.

    Emerging Writer - Johnny was definitely a one-off.

    TFE - LOL.

    Niamh - Zeebing is a secret art known only to horses in stripey PJs.

    DFTP - Cheers for the likeing of the header. It doesn't shatter my illusions of Johnny Morris to know he was pickled. Of course, anyone like that would not be allowed on kids' telly these PC days.

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  21. And I bet a ring-tailed lemur can't ring-tailed lem. Great fun.

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  22. A really enjoyable read, lots of clever fun bits, fab bus ride.

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  23. I love ring-tailed Lemurs, Peter. They had one of those on Animal Magic as well. 120 Socks - pleased to have pleased you.

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  24. Very good. Very funny. But why aren't you leeming as well? Leeming is walking diagonally backwards . . . lemurs do it all the time.

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  25. Good comic poem! I need cheering up at this time in the morning. This did it today.

    Like the banner, too. I make it a score of 49.

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  26. A nice fun effort. This deserves to be in Titus' book.

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  27. Loved your poem - a really unique way of looking at the animal kingdom and our relationship to it. Good fun!

    Thanks for sharing the clip. I would never have even known about Johnny Morris. He seems like a sweet fellow. This reminded me so much of a scene in the recent film, "Creation" when Paul Bettany, as Darwin, is interacting with an orangutan.

    Kat

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  28. Domestic Oub - Cheers
    Doctor FTSE - I put my back out leeming, one should really leave things like this to the professionals.
    Dominic - pleased to have brightened your day. 49, eh,? Should have moved the tiles around a bit.
    Lucy - thanks
    Kat - Johnny Morris was a real character. I'll have to check out the film you mentioned.
    NanU - thanks indeed.

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  29. Wish I could zeeb with the confidence of a zebra! I loved your poems laughing lines!

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  30. Muse - it just takes a bit of courage to zeeb, or so I'm told.

    LA Speedwing - welcome, don't believe I've seen you here before but thanks for visiting and for the kind words.

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