Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios. I'm Sean Johnson, and today is

Monday, July 29, 2024. And this week, we are going to feature five poems about animals.

The summertime is a time of animals. Children are spending much more time outdoors, I hope, God willing,

and encountering all sorts of living creatures, I hope, God willing. Summer is the time for

zoo trips and excursions into the wild blue yonder, which you really can't

count as a complete success unless you have encountered some form of exciting wildlife in the

process. Additionally, I'm on the road this week traveling to the Great Pacific Northwest, my homeland, where

hopefully I will encounter a few specimen of local wildlife.

And to make that trip a little bit easier on me, these next few episodes will be short

and sweet.

Without further ado, here is our first poem devoted to the animal kingdom.

The Centipede's Dilemma by Catherine Craster.

I'll read it once, offer a few comments, and then read it one more time.

The Centipede's Dilemma.

A centipede was happy quite until a frog in fun said,

Pray, which leg comes after which.

This raised her mind to such a pitch.

She lay distracted in a ditch, considering how to run.

I love this poem, especially as a poem for children,

because it performs this particular task that can be done in other mediums and other forms of writing,

but I think poetry has this unique ability to do it so quickly and deftly,

and that is to create new territory in the imagination.

...