Cautionary tales.Comical Poem number 870 by Angela Lansbury

The Victorians were sensible

Even their poets were practical

Cautionary tales gave all a warning

When rationality was dawning 

They gave a warning to a small child

That even a zoo animal's wild

Clearly stated in pictures and verse

A naughty child ends up in a hearse

Kittens are kittens but cats are cats

Tigers are wild, and all zoos know that

Although a cage puts you in a rage

Even those from Mars know don't climb bars

In Singapore visitors are sure

After one mishap there are no more

They searched around for the antidote

And made a moat, but not with a boat

Balcony bars aren't horizontal

they're designed impossible to climb

If something bad happens only once

Make sure that it stays the only time

You cannot pass through the safety glass

Nor take a dive. so tourists survive

When reports and remedies are done

We'll all go back to have safe fun

Though I'm no longer a small scared child

I don't like it in the scary wild

Too many tales and warnings I've seen

Now I watch the wild things on my screen.

-ends-

After the fatal incident in the Yorkshire wild life park I asked Gemini AI if Singapore Safari Park, which is linked to the zoo, has had accidents, and what safety measures where introduced. 

also read

1. "Jim, Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion" by Hilaire Belloc

This is a classic satirical cautionary tale from Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children (published in 1907).

The Lion and Albert by Marriott Edgar

This is a famous northern English comic monologue (often performed by Stanley Holloway) written in dialect.

Hilaire Belloc passed away in 1953. His copyright expired at the end of 2023 (70 years after 1953), meaning his works are now out of copyright and in the public domain.

Marriott Edgar passed away earlier, in 1951. His copyright expired at the end of 2021 (70 years after 1951), meaning his works are also out of copyright and in the public domain.The Wetherspoons pub located right near the Blackpool Tower was actually named The Albert and The Lion in honor of the poem.

Useful Websites

Please share links to your favourite posts.

The Story Of How Our New Fence Is A Ray of Hope, comical poem 620 by Angela Lansbury

 

Our old fence was weak, broken, holed

Ivy webs spread, crawled to hide it

Chipped flower pots sprawled below it

Ivy climbed up pipes beside it

Broken fence. Photo by Angela Lansbury.  Copyright. 

Everything about it shouted

Old people living here are dead

No action moves inside their heads

Their bank accounts are in the red

One weak panel had fallen down

Blown by a storm, hit by hard knocks

Let in burglars, litter, stray dogs

A badger, cat, a mangy fox

We whatsapped, emailed, asked around

Who'll fix our fence and make it sound?

Make it. last, ten years? Even more

Look young and strong, like us before

A neighbour, called, named his high price

('Cheaper's short-lived, though still looks nice')..

His team carted off trunks, twined trees

Swept up weeds, twigs and fallen leaves

Our fence is prim, proper, brand new

Solid - like dry pens? Sticks of old glue?

Like us, proud sign of stern defence

Stiff, steady, ready, our grand new fence!

New fence. 2025.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

There's more to do, there's more we lack -

I've problems with my aching back

An x-ray shows no broken bones -

We need to fix those paving stones

But for one ill, an antidote

Today's new sight's a ray of hope.

-ends-

Please share links to your favourite poems on posts in this blog.

A & E & Me comical poem 613 by Angela Lansbury

I'm sitting in the A and E

Accident and Emergency 

An ambulance transported me

What will they do? Just wait and see

They have to take a lot of notes

Which have to pass from hand to hand

Before they give pain's antidote,

I'd like to hear a marching band

I'd like to hear a country song

Or watch a joyful travel show

"When will a see a doctor here?"

The nurse tells me, "I do not know

'Because even if you were first

If someone serious comes in

The doctor has to see them first

And most of our short staff are missing.'

It's gone midnight, I ought to sleep

Why is this room not dark?

Other patients chat loud all night

First thing wrong at Northwick Park

I have to say breakfast was good

Fruit! Banana's my preferred food

Easy to eat and not much mess

A quick relief for my distress

Two pregnant women vomiting

At breakfast time, not the best thing

The only good thing I can see

Is others are worse off than me

Back home with pills and into bed

A soft pillow under my head

What did I learn at A and E?

Good to be home, good to be me.

-ends-