the wranglin’ pangolin

a pandemic-inspired animal rhyme

source: The Daily Bruin

the wranglin’ pangolin

by Joe Váradi

“i’m a mammal, not a reptile!”
ㅤ ㅤsaid the prickly pangolin
burrowing snout, scales like pine cones,
ㅤ ㅤlong sticky tongue, danglin’

“i’m not an anteater, either,
ㅤ ㅤthough our diet overlaps,
before Covid, kept low profile,
ㅤ ㅤI’ll forgive your knowledge gaps”

“now it seems that I’ve been labeled
ㅤ ㅤas the viral missing link —
we’re the world’s most trafficked species,
ㅤ ㅤwho’s fault is it? lemme think …”

more quarreling animal rhymes:

The Penguin and the Albatross

Gator and the Crocodile