Kayak Kelly Gassed in the Swamplands

Kayak Kelly Gassed in the Swamplands

Gliding through the swamplands

Paddling past the blackened sands

Kayak Kelly weaves through its trees

And the pitcher plants that tease

Teases its prey; the abundant bugs

Who cannot resist its odorous slugs

Kayak Kelly passes a cypress laden way

And notes the swaying loblolly-bay

In the distance; was that a deer?

Or maybe it was a black bear to fear?

What just splashed and slithered into the wet?

It was an alligator or snake he bet

Up ahead a spider was webbed

Between two sweet bays pegged

The spider was small as it hung up

Only the size of a Chihuahua pup

As Kayak Kelly forged on

The foggy gas rolled upon

Covering the waters the color of tea

Soon there was nothing he could see

When it rolled away he saw a sight

A possum was on a stump alight

And near a gator with an appetite

But the possum did not look in flight

It couldn’t be, but they appeared to be

In conversation so deep and earnestly

Kayak Kelly looked with a squint and a scrunch

Didn’t the gator know that possum was lunch?

Kayak Kelly got out his notebook

He wanted to record this odd look

So he could cherish later when

He had left the swampy glen

Then the fog cleared out away

And the creatures’ visages did not stay

The swamp was back to the way it was

Gator and possum off to some other Oz

Kayak ended his swamp travail

Headed home via the watery trail

Finished the picture while fresh in mind

His treasured, gassy, swampy find

His thoughts were a mighty swirl

Of a friendship that could never whirl

Kayak Kelly put it on his boat as a personal logo

An inquisitive gator and a possum he named Pogo