On sandy beaches where people lay,
Along the shores where they would play,
I have come.
Amidst towering clouds of gloom,
Behind the forked streaks of doom,
I will come.
When the angry clouds buffet the sea,
While the ships lean toward the lee,
I am there.
My power is the force that tickles the waves,
As people enjoy long summer days,
I will be there.
The ocean broils under my playful hand,
As anxious people quietly stand,
I am present.
Now I have churned up the water, causing it to foam,
But soon I am bored, so now I go home,
I have left.
Once again on a summer storm,
The air will tingle with the warm,
Wind.
Copyright 1996 J. N. Gallegos
The Forgetful and Exaggerative SurvivorOnce I saw a Tigertailed Fly,
Or was that a Dragonbutterswallow?
At any rate it swooped down low to the pond
And upon catching its meal, soared to the sky.
That Swallowtigered Dragon flew quite fast!
Its green body contrasted nicely against the azure sky.
The Tigerbutterfly finished eating its catch and then looked around.
Soon its eyes rested on me, in them I saw a devilish gleam
That fierce Flytailed Swallow attacked me from above.
With its sharp talons it scooped me up from the ground!
That fearsome creature carried me to its nest high in the trees,
And then left me for a midnight snack!
Well that nest was twelve feet tall with thorns on the top,
If you did happen to get out it was at least a thirty foot drop!
They say no one ever escapes the Dragontailedswallow Fly,
But that did not cause me to lose heart, so I got to work.
I was not about to become someone's breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Cautiously I stood up as high as I could get in that wobbly nest,
That Buttertailed Dragon was taking a noonish nap.
Quietly but quickly I started to climb that prickly nest
How that creature could sleep in it I could only guess.
Ocasionally the Swallowtiger Fly would twitch and wiggle
Probably doing some terrible thing to someone else in its dreams!
When it was going to wake up, I had no idea, so I climbed more rapidly.
Finally I reached the thorny edge of that enormous nest,
And what I saw was not a pretty sight.
That Flybuttered Beast was fifty feet long with seventy foot wings!
It had greenish gold eyes that seemed to watch your every movement.
Long gruesome daggers protruded from its feet,
And from its hideous mouth six foot long, razor sharp teeth!
Blue and red scales covered that entire beast, and they glimmered in the sun.
Carefully I pulled myself over those sword-like thorns on the top,
And then I had to cling to the side of the nest to avoid that thirty foot drop!
Just at that moment that Swallowtailed Dragon decided to wake up,
Hungrily it peered into its nest.
When it saw that I was not there it screamed the most horrible, blood curdling scream I have ever heard!
Then its eyes searched the ground.
But I was using my brains, and as it was busy looking on the ground I was climbing that tree.
Out of pure luck I found a branch that connected the two trees together.
Now I could get away from that hideous creature!
All of a sudden that branch snapped and I plummeted to the ground.
On my way down a strong wind blew me back to that pond!
Warily I sneaked through the bushes until I reached my house,
Once inside I locked the door and watched out the window.
Well, I sat there for hours expecting that Buttertaileddragonswallow to come knockin' on my door
You see they tell me those creatures have excellent noses.
But it never came; perhaps it had a cold that day.
So I am the ony survivor of a Swallowdragonbuttertailed Fly attack.
And that is no lie.
Copyright 1996 J.N. Gallegos
Author's note: The Forgetful and Exaggerative Survivor was one of my favorites! It was a lot of fun to try to think up different names for the beast that contained the same words, just mixed around.
