Singable Limerick-Medley: THE AVIAN LIFE

POST #159: Singable Limericks 

Brown pelican

ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here.
LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, and compiled in November 2017. The author thanks psheil, a contributing editor at OEDILF for the idea for poem#2, and Chris J. Strolin. editor-in-chief for the useful neologism 'delican' used in poem#7.

PHOTOS: By Giorgio, except where noted. Photos were tranferred from Giorgio's cellphone and formatted using ancient powerpoint software.

CONTENTS:

1. Earl the Eagle

2. Gizzards and Other G.I. Parts

3. The Pelican Revisited

4. Avian Tippling: Cedar Waxwings

5. The 'Pelicatessen'

6. 'Henry', the Great Egret

FURTHER READING (singing): Readers who enjoy this post might also appreciate our next blogpost "Animal Behaviour" .

If poem #2 in the present collection appeals to you, you might also like to review the blogpost "Acid Reflux and Other GI Symptoms" .

THE AVIAN LIFE

A LIMERICK MEDLEY 

(to the tune of "The Limerick Song" . Display of the lyrics has been condensed to 4 lines for each verse, with internal rhyming in line 3, rather than the more customary 5-line limerick format.) 

1. Earl the eaglet ate right in his aerie —

D D T - laden fish made him wary.

The scenario jumps to our day and our dumps.

Now our Earl is a carnivore scary.

    Earl's an emblem resurgent, so regal,
But you'll find you've not much recourse legal,

When, for tastier diet, he dives in the quiet

To seize your toy poodle or beagle.

2. Every creature that's bird-brained has learned:
Swallowed breakfast will need to be churned

Proventriculus: flaccid, gushes out gastric acid,

Then this sludge to its pathway's returned.
    The trick: after acid's secreted

Gizzard grinds, then the cycle's repeated.

Dribs and drabs, meals are mashed, acid-laced, then rehashed. 

You ask, "Don't birds have teeth?" They're deleted.
   That strong acid is great killing germs,
And digesting (yuk!) minnows and worms.

For tough jobs — seeds or bones, many gizzards have stones,

As a random post-mortem confirms.
    Wait a bit! This migration let's stop;

Reconsider the view from the top.

Birds can’t run to the store when their gizzard yells, “More!”,

They send grist to the mill from their crop.

3. Only profligate pelicans seek
To fill freezer-chests up for a week.

Birds must skim, then they swoop, then they ‘shop’ with their scoop -
It’s that throat pouch that’s under their beak.

    Apparatus that’s lauded by Merritt

(No such ode to the toucan or parrot): 

The birds’ portable larder? No, their life’s a bit harder: 

They eat fresh. Days old fish? – couldn’t bear it. 

4. Cedar waxwings indulge at our holly trees

Where the berries ferment; they're such 'jolly' trees.

Then flock-members fly straight at our windows, glass plate.

R.I.P. They're interred 'neath 'bird folly' trees.

5. Their great passion for sushi expressin',
Shoppers' flock to this dock for their fressin'.
Fishers carve up their catch; shorebirds watch, then they snatch
At their favorite pelicatessen.

6. This great Egret's no suitable pet,
'Henry' might be a source of regret.
He stands motionless 'til he spears prey with his bill.
They've no fear, then they find they got et.
(Henry poses for pictures? You  bet.)

EDITOR'S NOTE (May 2019). 
This collection of verses has now been updated with more doggerel verses about a rogues' gallery of waterfowl including  the snowy egret, the anhinga and the wood stork. So, , you can indulge in more of Giorgio's poetry and photos by linking to a new post on "EDIFYING NONSENSE" entitled "Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl".    

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT

(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)