Birds Have Beaks
by Ted L Glines

We, the intellects, nerds and geeks,
ponder about those birds and beaks,
for it seems too true that beak and feather
have no real reason to be together.

And that bothers us no end ...
     admit it - do - my friend ...

A cow with a beak would be so scary,
or a bird with teeth and skin that's hairy,
and imagine ...
     if you
          will ...

red-eyed Mad Cows' slashing beaks
loosed among you - awful freaks,
or flocks of crows with teeth and fangs
attacking - killing - flitting gangs,
awful ghastly nightmare things
worse than spiders having wings.

(We are pleased that spiders do not have wings.)

Birds in the forest, all a-twitter,
on her nest - a baby sitter
guards her eggs - awaits the time
the cracking hatching - so sublime,
so worthwhile - all the birthing pangs,
and now is born a chick with fangs ...

BisonBurger
by Ted L Glines

Browsing Wally-World meats
looking for a deal
some marked-down treats
gourmet delight steal
and what should my eyes
...spy...
bison burger
...ah...
hear the drums
of my ancient Red ancestors
sweaty thrumming hunters
fire dance the buffalo masks
re-enact the hunt
singing father buffalo
to that great bison burger place
...in the sky...
painted warriors leaping
UGGA bugga bugga UGGA bugga bugga
(forgot the words, there)
...but...
you must admit
“UGGA bugga bugga UGGA bugga bugga”
has a ring to it
(la touristas like it)
...and...
after this flight of fancy
I viewed my burger without thrill
expecting gamey necromancy
like aged-on-the-pavement road-kill,
steak seasoning, ketchup,
lettuce-tomato stacked it tall,
and if it had not been for all of this
it would have had no taste at all.
Pay no attention to my whining,
grand adventure - gourmet dining,
if you crave a tasty treat,
new moon risin
skip the bison,
find something else to eat!

NOTE: Actually my own Indian ancestors, being from Mexico, probably never saw a buffalo. That is likely a good thing. Buffalo were grumpy and liked to stomp stupid Indians. Besides, Conquistadores tasted better. Ummm...missionaries...yummers! Those Norte Americano Indians were not the brightest lightbulbs in the box. Their idea of tanning a buffalo hide was to scrape all the gunk off it, stake it out in the sun, and pee all over it. Yep, whenever some brave felt the urge, he would run right out there and pee on that hide. Stunk to high heaven. The uric acid helped in the curing process. And then, would you believe, someone would turn that hide into a shirt and wear the stinky thing. Dang!

There were these three Indian hunters, hunkered down under this old stinky buffalo hide, sneaking up on a herd of unsuspecting bison. And there were these three randy buffalo bulls, watching the dumb-looking “buffalo” sneaking up on their herd. One buffalo bull says to his buddy, “Hola, Eduardo, you ever see a buffalo lookin like that?” “No, Jose,” returned his bison friend, “must be a new buffalo-girl.” “Si ese,” chuckled Chango, the third bull, “we better go see about that. Arriba!” They did. Three Indian braves went home crying.

Binky
by Ted L Glines

Binky is a bat
not your ordinary bat
he likes to eat bananas
and fruit like that
fruit bat cute bat
hanging in the trees
sharing all the gossip
and a thousand glees
sleeps all day
and cruises the night
comes at Halloween
to give you a “fright”
he flies above the forest
straight and true
a social kind of guy
he'll even hug you
kidnapped and caged
no chance to refuse
he was damaged and hurt
in American zoos
he'll never fly again
in his African home
he'll remain in Texas
and never more roam
but he's so well cared for
by his Bat World friends
giving love and kindness
'til his bat-life ends.

Visit http://www.batworld.org/main/main.html
Adopt a Bat Today!

Where you live, you have likely seen bats near sunset and dawn, skittering around in the air as they feast on flying insects, for that is the most common type of bat in America. They are very small but effective. Were it not for your bats, you would be plagued by a lot more insects in and around your home. Binky is not that kind of bat. Binky is large; wingspan as much as five feet. He is a Sub-Saharan Flying Fox - an African fruit bat. His type of bat is very popular in American zoos, where they are mistreated, injured, and not cared for - all so the zoos can sell more tickets. Binky was a casualty of such a zoo until he was finally rescued by Bat World Sanctuary in Texas, and that is where I adopted him.