BAD DAY AT THE ARK
------------------
Roger McGough, Liverpool poet

On the eleventh morning
Japheth burst into the cabin;
'Dreadful news, everybody, the tigers
have eaten the bambanolas!'

'Oh, not the bambanolas,' cried Mrs Noah.
'But they were my favourites,
all cuddly and furry
and such beautiful brown eyes.'

Noah took her hand in his,
'Momma, not only were they cute
but they could sing and dance
and speak seven languages.'

'And when baked, their dung was delicious.'
added Shem wistfully.
Everybody agreed that the earth
would be a poorer place without the bambanolas.

Noah determined to look on the bright side.
'At least we still have the quinquasaurapods.'
'Oh, yes, the darling creatures,' said his wife.
'How would we manage without them?'

On deck, one quinquasaurapod was steering,
cooking, fishing, doing a crossword
and finding a cure for cancer.
The other was being stalked by a tiger.