little dr dolittle

There once was a boy who smirked at a spider
Old Johnson told me it's true. 
I even heard once that he winked at a gator
On the day his class went to the zoo.
Then one day a roach went a scuttling quick
and momma swung down with the News, 
but she swatted the boy on the top of his head
scuttling, hands in his shoes.
The grown ups called a meeting:
    “This just can’t be!”
        “The boy must know manners!”
            “Not how to climb trees!”
They told him, "jaguars are fierce and furtive with glee!”
But its just a good game of hide-and-go-seek
They pealed “scorpions are mean, they hide in your shoes!”
But a musty ole boot is a swell place to snooze,
plus they’re practicing for the 9th of May
in Johnson’s old waders is the scorpion ballet!
So one by one the grown ups shrugged home
while the boy sat whistling a lark
and not one was surprised
not the tiniest bit tinkered
when the boys best friend was a shark. 

*poem inspired Shel Silverstein, Davey Bruce and the image above taken by John Turpin at the Tulsa Aquarium