PSALM OF A SORRY STARFISH
Twinkle, twinkle, (starfish pray),
How we wonder what to say,
Deep below the waves we be,
Like lost diamonds in the
sea:
Twinkle, twinkle, hear us pray,
Cheerless, wrap't in dark dismay.
We don't twinkle! we're no star!
Look at us! We're just bizarre!
Not a star and not a fish,
To be either, don't we wish!
God of all that's picturesque
Why've you made us so grotesque?
We must creep in oyster beds,
Scaring all those sleepyheads,
Opening their shell-door
seal
Just enough to have a meal.
They must die so we survive!
What a way to stay alive!
Five to fifty arms have we
Made to grab an enemy,
Tiny eyespots on each tip
Let's us look before we nip!
Mother Ocean, God Above,
Could we not lead lives of love?
Bright and friendly we would
be,
Saintly stars beneath the
sea,
Or
in heaven let us dwell
In
the sky from whence we fell.
God of all who swim or creep,
Hear us -- as Deep calls
to Deep.
from the forthcoming book Prayers of 100 Animals A to Z, by William Cleary
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