� 2007 Harvey H. Warwick III
I�ve never seen a porcupine
And if I never do, that�s fine.
I hear they�re just a kind of rat
With pointed quills all over that
If you should get too close, too soon,
Could really puncture your balloon.
I�ve never seen a giant squid
Although I liked them as a kid.
I always thought they looked real cool
(The pictures that I saw in school)
But I�ve no plans to deep-sea dive:
I�d likely not come back alive.
I�ve never seen a dinosaur
Because there just aren�t any more.
The movies and the toys I�ve seen
(They look cool on the silver screen)
But probably I�d run away
If I encountered one today.
I�ve never seen a unicorn
Nor has one ever yet been born.
Creatures of myth I�ll never see
Or of cryptozoology.
Such creatures are not seen on farms
But only on a coat of arms.
Nor have I ever seen narwhales
Who swim beneath the ocean gales
A most improbable sea beast
Not found in south or west or east
But only in the northern seas
Deep down beneath the polar freeze.
I�ve never seen a polar bear
Nor do I plan to travel where
A polar bear might well be seen.
On going there, I�m not real keen.
Unless they had one in a zoo
A polar bear I�ll never view.
I�ve never seen a rattlesnake
And hope I don�t, for heaven�s sake!
At least not one that was alive
And if I had that chance, I�d strive
To be in some far distant place
Away from rattlesnakes� embrace.
I�ve never seen a dodo bird
Nor can they be, or so I�ve heard.
Their fate can be summed up succinct:
The dodo bird is now extinct.
The notion therefore is absurd
That one could see a dodo bird.
I�ve never seen a great white shark
And am unlikely to embark
Upon a trip to see one soon.
Though I�ve been to the beach in June
I seldom swim when at the beach
And thus stay well out of their reach.
I�ve never seen a termite queen
Who hides within her nest, unseen.
Now termites do not bother me:
I�ve never owned a home, you see,
And thus am not concerned with wood
(Although, you know, perhaps I should).
I�ve never even seen a moose
And if there was one on the loose
I�d seek the safety of a tree
Before that roving moose saw me.
The only time I�d dare to look
Is at one in a picture book.
I�ve never seen a white peacock
And if I did, I�d be in shock.
For albinism is quite rare
Among the creatures of the air
And although pretty one might be
Such things I�ll likely never see.
In fact, there are a lot of things
With claws and antlers, scales, or wings
With mandibles or spiraled horn
Which rise at night, but hide at morn
That dwell in places far from me
That I will likely never see.
It�s not that I have no desire
About such creatures to inquire
Yet if such things I never meet
Out in the wild, or on the street
I�ll not say it was a defeat
Or that my life was incomplete.
12/06