Fossil Records

Hey gang! 

Welcome to day 3, which for most of you is almost over, though for some is just beginning. And that's the point I'd like to run with in my poem for the day...BEGINNING. Now I'm not really one for evolution; we all know the dinosaur bones were just an elaborate rouse hewn of plaster of Paris, and that lobster eyes hold the key to the secrets of intelligent design...SO here's my take on the early days of one of the creatures we share the Earth with. Can't be that far off, can it?

A Brief History of the Long-Toed Salamander

It started with a nubbin,

black and slovenly.

And then it rained.

In the water

there were little pockets

filled with dollar bills.

The nubbin went to Macy’s

and bought two pairs

of snazzy boots,

proclaiming them to be

the hot dammin’est boots

it ever did see.

It paraded through the sagebrush plains,

basking in the attentions of the sun.

“Hot damn,” said the sun.

“Ain’t you just a surprise.”

And with that,

the nubbin gained sneak skills.

In the winter

the nubbin stored food on its back;

tins of Spaghetti-O’s and pineapple slices.

So heavy were they

that the nubbin crawled to a cave

and collapse with exhaustion.

When it awoke,

the tins had melted

into a neat black tail

and the glistening spoon of a head

that perfectly matched

those darling bootees.

Nowadays the nubbin works in a meat factory.

Inflation makes prancing about in the sand

a difficult buck to hang onto.

At night it opens up a can of Budweiser,

puts on its boots

and shoots a gun at the television,

thinking about the desert,

wishing it would rain again.