For Terry P.

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Natural selection, Or: The trials of life.



In a country far away,

Where forests aren't at all like ours

But moist and hot and filled with life,

There grow some quite unusual flowers.

They're tall and thin and tulip-like,

They tower above the ferny fronds

And rain collects inside in pools

Creating separate little ponds.



Inside one flower live tiny crabs

And here they live until they die

And, in between, raise families,

And all they ever see is sky.

Because they live so much alone,

And as the petals are so tall,

They cannot see the outside world

And don't believe in it at all.



In fact, most think (as good crabs should)

That all there is outside their pool

Is Sky, where all the insects live,

(For this is what they're taught at school).

But some crabs claim the Wood exists

As sometimes, when the wind is right,

A leaf will drift into their pond

And start a philosophic fight.



You see, general consensus is

That 'what you see is what you get',

So flower and sky is all there is -

They tend to get a bit upset

When younger crabs say "that's not true!

If there are leaves there must be trees."

And then prove mathematically

That there are other flowers like these.



The elders say "The Great God Zog

Has sent this leaf down from his cloud

To test our faith." and mumble that

"Such lies should never be allowed".

So in their minute universe,

Most never wonder if to stay

So trapped is such a good idea.

At least, that is, until today.



A certain crab (who shan't be named

As that may cause embarrassment)

Has made himself unpopular

Because, this morning, when he went

Out hunting for his evening meal

(They catch bugs who, unluckily

Fall into their steep-sided home,

And then they cook them for their tea)



The crab was rather shocked to meet

An insect from a neighbouring tree

Who used to hover 'round this flower

And thus spoke crab quite fluently

This bug told him about the world

And of a bird it sometimes sees

Whose lengthy beak it has evolved

To reach inside such flowers as these.



Concerned by this impending doom,

And knowing that he must be quick,

Crab told the elders straight away -

They said he was a heretic.

So he and all his family

Were flung outside their native place

And, landing in a pond below,

Began to propagate their race.



But fate, who always likes a joke,

Was not content to let things be

And pointed out these goings on

To Long-Beaked Bird in Nearby Tree.

She saw the errant little crab

And relatives, as they fell by,

And 'though her brain was very small

She was aware that crabs can't fly.



She saw the flower up above

And suddenly she understood,

Then swiftly flew up to that plant

And ate the crabs - because she could.

Thus were the naïve crabs devoured

While those who questioned prosper still.

I'm sure that there's a moral here,

But I'll ignore it if you will.


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