‘Twas brillig, but the slithy toves
Had been removed to clear the way
To build a condomultiplex
And the mome raths did say:
“Beware the Jubjub bird, my son,
Whose habitat hath been destroyed.
Beware his beak, his talons sleek,
For he is much annoyed.”
He took his camera in hand
And set the telephoto lens
To zoom all the way in, and waited
In the tulgey fens.
Whilst waiting for his manxome foe
He drowsed into a dreamless sleep,
So when the Jubjub bird appeared
He did not hear a peep,
But got a rude awakening
When talons gripped his aching arms
And carried him into the air
As he cried out alarms.
“Oh, woe is me!”, he cried in fear.
“Oh Jubjub bird, I did not seek
To cause thee harm: don’t grip me so
Or pierce me with thy beak.”
And when his captor answered back
He did not hear some raucous screech
But found the Jubjub bird’s reply
Was much like human speech.
“And wouldst thou rather plummet down
And headlong strike the barren beach?
No one below can help thee now:
Thou’rt high above their reach.
“I hunger,” said the Jubjub bird
Whose wingspan measured sixteen feet
“To find some savory repast
Whose flesh is moist and sweet,
And since the tum-tum trees were felled
My quarry hath been hard to find;
I must perforce search far afield
Or seek some other kind.”
And when at last he found a perch
Atop a craggy mountain peak
He looked his captive in the eye
And started then to speak.
“No vorpal sword is in thy hand
Whereby thou mightst me swiftly slay;
The one that slew the Jabberwock
Hath rusted clean away.”
“Oh noble bird,” his captive cried,
“Oh soaring captain of the air,
I must now take thy photograph
And pictures of thy lair,
For if the world below could see
The desperation of thy plight
They might replant the tum-tum trees
And banish urban blight.”
He took his camera in hand
And told the bird, with gleeful guile,
“Now turn around and look this way;
I’ll count to three, then smile!”
The flash exploded blazing light
Into the bird’s unwitting eyes
And whilst bedazzled, he went home
To claim his photo prize.
“And hast thou framed the Jubjub bird
Within thy telephoto lens?
Now we have proof he lives aloof
Beyond the tulgey fens!”
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimbel in the breeze.
The condomultiplex was gone
Replaced by tum-tum trees.