I’d love to be a bird but…

I’d love to be a bird – but just

So I can wash myself in dust

I wouldn’t want to fly all day

In search of food, no time to play

I sometimes wish I were a shark

I could go swimming in the dark

Or a huge hippo in a hollow

Full of mud where I could wallow

I would quite like to be a bat

I’ve a very good reason for saying that

It’s fun hanging upside down from trees

Although it hurts the backs of my knees

A crocodile’s career seems fun

It can make like a log or bask in the sun

But the turtle’s life moves me to tears

Alone at sea for 60 years.

2015

Photo description: Two crocodiles basking beside a river bank in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. They are reflected in the glassy water but well camoflaged against the winter grass.