I’m not mad that in a day
Awareness of the Manta Ray
And its lack of presence in verse
Has hardly changed, for better or worse.
I’m not mad that my attempt
Has not resulted as I dreamt.
Alas, it is not as I wished,
For still few care for the flat gray fish.
And so in my last plea to you
I wrote, of the Manta, this haiku:
Swimming manta ray.
Crocodile hunter slain
And still no poems.
I hope I have inspired you
To write rhymes of the great ray too.
Rhyming’s hard, and some will balk
Yet still I’m glad we had this talk.
The Daily Travesty 