Steve (Skinner's) poem of the week is...The Yawn!
...and now it's time for Skinner & T'witch's new, regular feature...(Steve) Skinner's Poem of the Week...
The Yawn
One day a hippo yawned so wide, she swallowed all the river inside.
All the animals drinking there, found the banks were dry and bare.
‘You’ll explode!’ cried the crocs, marooned upon the mud and rocks.
‘Selfish!’ roared the lion pack, eying zebras for a snack.
‘Disgusting!’ moaned the thirsty snake, ‘when all our water hippos take.’
Then the hippo yawned so wide, she swallowed all the land inside.
All the bush, the hills, the sun, were sucked in past her teeth and tongue.
And being oh, so very bored, an even bigger yawn she roared.
So, all the sky, the stars, the earth, ended up within her girth.
She even ate the night and day, then time and space were gorged away.
And when the hippo’s yawns were done, she was left the only one.
A sweaty, saddened, swollen face, alone in timeless, empty space.
She missed her mates and furry friends,
who'd lived just where the river bends.
The lions snoozing by the rocks, the slimy snake, the moany crocs.
But deep within her belly’s pot, the cosmic lunch was bubbling hot.
The universe began to brew and, pretty soon, it roared and blew.
Her stomach, vast and over-loaded,
Brewed and stewed, and then exploded.
So, in a big exotic bang, a brand-new universe began.
And so, the hippopotamus
became the origins of us.
Copyright Steve Skinner 2017