Consider animals that flock,
Or congregate within a bloc;
The fish that shoal, the wolves that pack
And spare a thought for those who lack
The need to be a species clone
But need to spend some time alone,
Who feel that it is quite absurd
To be no more than part of Herd.

Consider too the beasts that find
They’re not like others of their kind.
Imagine please the problems that
Befall the vegan vampire bat
Who nightly flies around the wood
Whilst others go in search of blood
Who finds his twilight life a test
Not being quite like all the rest.

Consider please this lone outcast
Who lives his life in bloodless fast
(Blood oranges would be his choice,
But there’s no rhyme for that of course)
And, like me, hope that he will find
A space for him within his kind –
I think that all he wants is that
‘Cos after all, he’s just a bat.

Being different is never easy, but sometimes it’s more difficult than others…

Having become confused over which animals I have, and have not, written a rhyme about, I decided the time had come to write a list, at which point I discovered that my last rhyme (Zoo #21 – Aardvark) is about the same animal as my first (Zoo #1 – An Explanation).  The rhymes are completely different – so at least I think I am not going completely ga-ga – but now I have ‘the list’ it should not happen again.  Well, it might, if I’m honest, but at least I’ll know…