Coming back again to the theme of animals and water… some sea lions for your pleasure… and maybe after this something completely different!
I was taking a look at what else was out there for sealions and art and found a couple of nice links. There’s a lovely slightly abstract screen print on this page. You’ll have to scroll down and there are four of sea mammals in the second last row. The second link is a different idea of sealions and art – but it does beg the question – why are these creatures in captivity again??
UPDATE: New poem from TR in comments! Wonderfully imagined sea lion dynamics… caution – some slightly racy content!!
“I say!” Sir Gronk said by his wives,
“Aren’t I splendid fellow?
So grand in form, so bluff and fat,
So magisterial!”
“So irritating,” muttered one;
“So pompous,” said the other,
“A bully and a bore besides,
though not too bad a lover.”
“Oh please,” the first replied to this,
“He’s nothing like my ex:
that bull could ride, I’ll give him that,
to very fine effects.”
“The one who dumped you for those cows
who gave him pups a plenty?
The last I heard he had sixteen,
or maybe it was twenty!”
“Hurrumph,” was all the first replied,
“Quality’s what matters,
not quantity! Now let’s go fish
before he gets much fatter!”
They slipped and slid into the sea,
whose waters made them welcome,
then off they swirled to find a meal
according to their dictum.
Meanwhile Sir Gronk said, “Aren’t I fat
And in such splendid form?
I say, where have they vanished to?
Oh well, the sun is warm!”
Copyright (C) 2010 Tom Radcliffe
image (cc) 2010 Hilary Farmer
Green Tea Doodles 
“I say!” Sir Gronk said by his wives,
“Aren’t I splendid fellow?
So grand in form, so bluff and fat,
So magisterial!”
“So irritating,” muttered one;
“So pompous,” said the other,
“A bully and a bore besides,
though not too bad a lover.”
“Oh please,” the first replied to this,
“He’s nothing like my ex:
that bull could ride, I’ll give him that,
to very fine effects.”
“The one who dumped you for those cows
who gave him pups a plenty?
The last I heard he had sixteen,
or maybe it was twenty!”
“Hurrumph,” was all the first replied,
“Quality’s what matters,
not quantity! Now let’s go fish
before he gets much fatter!”
They slipped and slid into the sea,
whose waters made them welcome,
then off they swirled to find a meal
according to their dictum.
Meanwhile Sir Gronk said, “Aren’t I fat
And in such splendid form?
I say, where have they vanished to?
Oh well, the sun is warm!”
🙂
Copyright (C) 2010 Tom Radcliffe
Lots of slant-rhymes in this one! I think your bull looks delightfully self-satisfied and pompous–not a bad fellow but probably a bit of a dullard!
Love it Tom! Wonderful characterization!!
Thanks for this – and you so busy right now too!!
You inspire me! 😀
I couldn’t resist the the whole mating-dynamics thing: the degree of sexual dimorphism Stellar’s Sea Lions show is so huge that it’s hard to write about them without involving it.
They are, like all of us, creatures of their evolutionary history, and as we come to understand more deeply the deficits that has left us with we have a chance of helping each other deal with them rather than letting them make our lives miserable, which is good because most of us can’t quite muster up Sir Gronk’s blissful lack of awareness.
Love the poem, love the title of this post. Both very catchy!
😉