First Dogs

 

(Picture Credit - New York Times com)

 Over thirty thousand years ago a pregnant she-wolf

And her mate lay hidden in the grass

Watching some of our human ancestors

Hunt with spears, bows and arrows.

They were very impressed

But more than that so hungry

That they followed those humans home

Hoping to steal some meat.

 

They were just about to snatch that food

When a humans appeared

All around them.

They were caught!

All they could do was look up with pleading eyes:

“Please don’t kill us! We just want food.”

Seeing one of them was heavily pregnant

Those humans presumed them starving

And threw them meat

Then let them go!

 

Hungry again, they went back for more

And the humans fed them

And even stroked them.

This was so much better

Than having to search for prey

So often without reward.

 

And as time passed they took to accompanying these humans

On their hunts

Then ferreting out some prey for them to shoot

Rounding animals up

And retrieving those shot down by arrows.

 

Soon the rest of their pack joined them

And the female wolf had her pups

Near the human camp

Where it was safe.

She taught her pups

To plead for food and care

With their eyes and whines.

 

Those wolves remained forever,

Generation after generation

Each litter getting cuter

And softer

And more loving

Towards mankind.

 

And so they evolved

Into a seemingly endless variety

Of “Dogs”.

From Rottweilers to tiny Poodles,

German Shepherds and Collies to Chihuahuas.

They became known as “Man’s Best Friend”,

Showing us unconditional Love

And loyalty:

A bond like no other.

Even evolving raised eyebrows

And deeply sad eyes

To attract our love and care.

Domesticating themselves

Yet begging the question

Who is really “the master”?

My money is on

Them.

 

Paul Butters

 

© PB 20\3\2021.

 

Inspired by a TV documentary by Chris Packham.

Trees

 (Picture Credit - Conserve Energy Future com)

Shapely steaming trees make clouds of their own:

Raining daily on the rainforest.

Rumbling jungles serenaded by a clichéd cacophony of birdsong.

 

I love all trees wherever they are:

Pinewoods in temperate zones,

Palms on tropical isles,

Ancient oaks full of magic.

 

See breeze kissed canopies high in the sky,

Forests deep in mysterious gloom.

Let Attenborough portray the rest.

Tarzan and Robin Hood to reign forever.

Keep your axes and saws away.

Let’s plant as many trees as we can

And watch them grow.

 

Paul Butters

 

© PB 18\3\2021.

Leeds United On The Attack

(Picture Credit - Financial Times (surprisingly))

Leeds United on the attack

No sign of holding back

No matter what the score

We keep knocking on that door

 

Slicing through opposing lines

Creating chances many times

We really should score many more

That would bring us to the fore

 

Bamford bangs them in of course

Making us a formidable force

Get those shooting boots on, one and all

Let’s get past that defensive wall

 

Raphinha brings Brazilian magic

His silky skills are so fantastic

Kalvin runs the midfield show

Gives our team a rapid flow

 

Bielsa’s brain and dedication

Provides us with a firm foundation

He has us marking man for man

Keeping to the pressing plan

 

People hated us in the past

Now they love us, no more typecast

Strange to be so often praised

Enjoying having our profile raised

 

So here’s to Leeds, our beloved team

Hoping soon to be the cream

Keep going you men in white

Aiming for a future bright

 

Paul Butters

 

© PB 10\3\2021.

Limitless

Even if we went beyond the bounds

Of space and time

We would see an infinite multiverse

Lasting forever.

 

For We are lost

So utterly lost

Amongst countless numbers

Of galaxies and stars.

 

Words cannot do justice

To this miraculous wonder.

Call it a cosmos

Or a universe

What you will

This black vastness

Is beyond human comprehension.

 

Our own little Earth

May well be replicated

Endless times:

Infinite numbers of rocky worlds

Orbiting their suns

In cosy Goldilocks zones.

 

Perhaps each universe explodes to life

Then fades

Like some Groundhog Super-Age

Lasting many trillions of years

Each Repeat.

 

But it matters not

As eternal infinity is time and space enough

For anything to happen.

 

And it matters not

Unless there is someone around

To witness and experience it all.

And that’s where We come in.

That’s our role.

 

Paul Butters

 

© PB 4\3\2021.