TURTLE LOVE

                       

TURTLE LOVE 

If I were a turtle

I’d pack up my shell

And embark on a pursuit 

For a turtle Mademoiselle

I’ll set out on my quirky quest 

At a pace that’s Lickity Split

But at my turtle speed 

It won’t be too quick

It might take a long time

For I’m just a turtle y’know 

And with my stubby turtle legs

I’ll be moving real slow

So ... there’s no need to hurry

There’s need to rush

Big red letters on my shell that read

 “Girlfriend or Bust”

All of my bachelor buddies

Bid me farewell and adieu

“Watch out for those pesky nets!”

“Or you’ll end up turtle stew”

My goal was quite a simple one 

That somewhere in these waters

I would find my turtle bride 

And take her to the Alter

So with a swish of my turtle tail

I slide into the stream

To find the pretty turtle that’s been 

Haunting my turtle dreams 

I swam countless rivers

Through lakes and through marsh

Crossing busy highways 

Trying not to be squashed 

The dangers they were many

The days turned into weeks

As I plod along so slowly

And swim up one last creek

My letters had long faded

No longer crimson red

I’d all but lost hope

When suddenly up ahead

Entangled in a ball of twine

From a fisherman’s pole

Was the prettiest little turtle

These eyes will ever behold 

Her face was so determined 

In spite of her precarious plight

Her blue eyes still sparkled 

As she put up the fiercest fight

I swam up from behind her

And pulled on every line

Little by little by little 

It began to finally unwind

I told her, “Don’t worry Dear”

As I bit the tenacious string 

Not really sure at all 

If she’d heard me say anything 

The stubborn filament at last 

Gave up its gripping ghost 

But she darted off so quickly  

Too where? I don’t know? 

The water was too murky 

She’d probably gone real deep

Scared from being so entrapped

Glad to be set free

Seven long days spent searching

Every twist and every bend

Hoping just to find her

Bring my journey to an end

Each night I would sit and gaze

Up at the stars and moon

And wonder if she was somewhere 

Gazing at them too

I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking

How far and wide I’d swum

Or of what might have been

Of just how close I’d come

Slowly I turned towards my home

To begin the end of my long trip

I rounded a large sandbar

And suddenly stopped ...... mid-flip

There on a rock in the bright sunshine

Like a garden figurine 

Sat the most beautiful turtle  

My eyes had ever seen 

From the twist of her tail 

To the curve of her snout 

A picture of perfection

That left little doubt

I forgot to kick my limbs

For I’d stopped so quick 

So under the water

I started to slip

I flailed like a hatchling’s

First time in the drink

Spitting and choking 

And starting to sink

She looked in my direction

At all the splashing sounds

Who was this strange turtle?

That was fixing to drown

She jumped in and pushed 

Until I slowly started to swim

Together we both made it

To an overhanging limb

Still gasping and still wheezing 

And feeling perplexed and addled

I squeaked, “What happened?”

“Did I forget how to paddle?”

The look in her eyes 

When she heard me speak 

Let me know she recognized my voice 

When I’d saved her just last week

“It was you!”

“When I was snared”

“I’m sorry I ran”

“I was just so scared”

Her arms went around me

(Well ... not quite)

“My hero!”, she whispered

“I won’t run away tonight”

We spent the eve talking 

Well.... (not all of the time)

She told me of her history 

And I told her all of mine

She said she lived on the French Broad

But from Cayuta Creek she hailed

Her children were all grown and gone

Before her marriage derailed

I told her of my sojourn 

How I’d looked for her forever 

How finally fate had intervened 

And brought us here together 

The paint is long gone from my shell

Replaced with love and laughter

If I wrote the letters again they’d say  

“Happily Ever After”

For now every day’s a sunny day

As we bask on our favorite log

And each night together we retire

To make some Turtle Love

John Snelling

07:21:19

#54