Coco and I are reading another book by one of her favorite authors, naturalist Sy Montgomery.  As she posted a few months ago, it was Montgomery’s Soul of an Octopus that inspired in us both not only an obsession with Octopuses, but also many thoughtful discussions about how we can never know the inner workings of other creatures.  Coco is having a similar experience as she reads Montgomery’s The Tarantula Scientist.  She had this to say yesterday:

TALK ABOUT BEING MISUNDERSTOOD!  THE TARANTULA IS ONE OF THE MOST MALIGNED CREATURES ON EARTH.  A BIG PART OF LEARNING ABOUT OTHER SPECIES THAN HUMANS IS THAT IT MAKES THEM LESS SCARY.

Following this comment, Coco and I were reading some animal poetry and I asked her if she’d like to write an animal poem.  She responded yes.  I assumed she would choose tarantula as her subject, but she spelled SNAKE, another unfairly “maligned creature,” I suppose.

SNAKE

HE SLITHERS ALONG

WITH A SONG IN HIS HEART

BUT NO VOICE TO RELEASE IT

OR WAY TO IMPART

THE FEELINGS HE SHARES

WITH THE BIRDS AND THE BEARS

YOU MIGHT NEVER KNOW

JUST HOW MUCH HE CARES