Sheila Charles TALK WITH THE ANIMALS
I’ve known my friend for six or more years.
We engage in philosophical chat.
but what I was not prepared for
Was her answer when I asked after her cat.
She told me not just about her cat
But about other animals she’d had.
She’d always seemed really sensible.
Now, I was thinking she’s mad.
She’s lived in England, India, the Solomon’s
So that explained the mongoose and snake.
She used to carry a slow worm round in her pocket
And kept pet rats – for heaven’s sake!
She really longed to go to Africa to study chimpanzees.
‘They’ said she was too highly qualified so she ended up studying fleas!
She broke bird’s nests over basins of water
And caught the fleas with a brush.
The university needed them.
It was all very hush hush!
She nurtured myna birds in the Solomon’s
then released them when they were strong.
The students likened her to St. Francis.
It must have helped as they all got along.
Now she is living in New Zealand, her latest animal friend
Is a hedgehog she’s christened Fuzzy Peg. Will this nurturing ever end?
Maybe whenever we make a new friend, we should ask them, straight out,
“Tell me three things about yourself that I’d never guess.” There’s be some surprises
No doubt!
At least I found out these amazing facts before she went and died.
I could have heard it all at her funeral. Then I would have been mortified.
illustration by ume-nori
