I Wannaby

This is a poem for my grandsons David and Edward and for all my Australian friends, who have had a bad week.

Photo by Glen Fergus (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

I Wannaby

I wanna be a wallaby
For if I were a wallaby
I'd lie beneath a leafy tree
I'd be so bouncy and carefree
and be as happy as could be
If I were a wallaby

I wanna be a kangaroo
For if I were a kangaroo
I'd do the stuff marsupials do
in the bush - or in a zoo
Hop around and graze and chew
If I were a kangaroo

I wanna be a grey koala
For if I were a grey koala
I'd welcome you into my parlour
and my Eucalyptus larder
I'd really be a tourist charmer
If I were a grey koala

I wanna be a yellow dingo
For if I were a yellow dingo
I would into your rubbish bin go
I'd only speak in dingo lingo
and have a good old howling sing 
Oh if I were a yellow dingo

I wanna be a Great White shark
For if I were a Great White shark
I'd glide in where the buoys are marked
or sneak into a Water Park
Oh what fun! What a lark!
If I were a Great White Shark

I wanna be a Queensland croc
For if I were a Queensland croc
I'd wait with the patience of a clock
tick tock tick tock tick tick tock
Then I'd give you a horrible shock!
If I were a Queensland croc

I wanna be an Eastern Brown
If I were an Eastern Brown
I'd slither in to your home town
and when the sun was going down
I'd hide inside your dressing gown
If I were an Eastern Brown

I wanna be a redback spider
If I were a redback spider
I'd scuttle in and hide inside a
shoe or glove or somewhere wider
I could wait and then I'd bite yer
If I were a redback spider

But, actually....

I don't wanna be a wallaby
with a joey on my knee
I don't wanna be a horrid shark
or dingo with its warning bark
I don't wanna be a kangaroo
or snake or shark or spider too
I just wanna live in a southern land
where its so easy to get tanned
when I get there I'll try to mail yer
if the animals don't get me - in Australia

Tim Fellows 2018