nippy and fast one can never get it easy

                                                                               Author Marko Knuutila
Image: The sneer on their faces (here)

Theme: Animals - R for Rabbits

crocuses pop up early, to inspire true spring joy
deer and rabbits attracted to flowers - are a nuisance
bitter with sharp fragrance marigold keep them out

honeysuckle planted at the fringes known to repel
but once inside tulips bulbs are most vulnerable
flower beds with colors often turned over in the nights

what tough luck to be victims of 'adorable' little critters
added to the woes are the ever-present little squirrels
nippy and fast one can never get it easy to win them all

Magaly's at Real Toads  -  weekend mini challenge
For A to Z Challenge  -  R

The Mind Is Its Own Beautiful Prisoner

                                                                                                       Author Raul654
Image:  An Okapi (here)

Theme: Animal  -  O for Okapi


The Mind Is Its Own Beautiful Prisoner
beautiful no less but still very much imprisoned
to twist and shout not consigned to the back burner
struggling to find an outlet with good reasons

to speak its mind hankering on free expressions
not to be throttled or squeezed by the neck
but gluttony of efforts to push forward its opinions
the mind its own energy not under wraps

can one stifle its desire to make its presence felt
a prisoner of conscience holding back its strength
ought to be given space in fairness without regret
likened to the okapi waiting to strike a chime

For A to Z Challenge :  O
Sanaa's at Real Toad's

Poetry as an Enduring Fighter

                                                                              Author Biopauker (talk) /J. Dietrich

Image: Early morning Riser (here)

Theme Animals:  N for Nightingale

what is poetry to the poet
an avenue of expression
in a delicate way in concert
with finesse and good reasons

may perhaps be camouflaged
but done within a subtlety of treatment
outlined intellectually supercharged
to bring to great effect dire moments

of truth to be readily acknowledged
painful it may seem but dutifully swallowed
aligned to a Nightingale's dawn message
sweet and tender even if logic disallowed

served its purpose as a fighter for a just cause
to extend a sophistication of word usage
beautifully expounded with nothing lost
but a play in the finest of creative language

Anmol (HA) at Real Toads' -  tuesday platform 
For A to Z Challenge :  N

regal in its bearing

                                                                                                  Author:  Frank Wouters
Image:  A regal specimen (here)

Theme: Animals - M for Markhor

its unique shape as an obvious attraction
a pair of spectacular spiraling horns
enduring goat on the ledge of mountains
sprightly, agile with quick movements

to the big male species, there are reasons
of practical uses for their crowning glory
fighting for females during the mating season.
to removing of the bark from a tree

it also serves as a historical record 
there are rings on it like that of a tree
indicative of how old is its lot
fascinating specimen regal in its beauty 

Gor A to Z  Challenge  - M
Anmol's (HA) at Real Toad's - tuesday platform

Saveng horns atop their head

with ghost-like reflective eyes

                                                                      Attribution - jenny genannt (CC BY-SA 3.0)  
Image: A Lemur (here)

Theme: Animals -  L for Lemur

a primate found only in Madagascar
with ghost-like reflective eyes roaming
coupled with wailing screams from afar
strangely with additional tongue for grooming

done on one another as often done by primates
are strangely found within a matriarchal society
where more control is exercised by females
strangely to source for water on its own ingenuity

eat leaves of fleshy plants to get water it was able
strangely blessed with an intelligence of a higher level

For A to Z Challenge: L
Sherry's at PU's Poetry Pantry #446

bee safe pesticides not very safe after all

                                                                                  Author Ferran Pestana
Image: A Honey Bee in the Act

Theme Animals - H for Honey Bee

honey bees  with elements of a destroyer
to humans owing to its deadly stings
but as pollinators for flowers as a savior
a provider of total food of its making

often debated as a subject of ridicule
honey as food in storage for the generation
but is it created out of vomit or poo
that a forager bee regurgitates on its return

a house bee through process of trophallaxis
turning the raw nectar to sweet tasting honey
but a matter of more direct concern
are bee safe pesticides not very safe after all

For A to Z Challenge:  H

its commercial value enhanced

                                                                Author XV8-Cri

Image: A Gerbil (here)

Pet of the Year 2007 in Finland

Theme: Animal  -  G for Gerbil

cute little darling similar to the hamster
but edged it off as the pet of choice
sporting a tail as long as its body
shed off like a lizard's in times of danger
just a common desert rodent
but its commercial value enhanced
boasted pride of place in modern homes

For A to Z Challenge : G

Strangely only half the body is asleep - a Limerick

                                                                                             Author inkknife_2000
Image: Sleeping on one Leg (here)

The colour of the flamingo comes from eating
a type of algae that then turns the flamingo into
the bright pink bird that we are so familiar with.

Theme: Animals -  F for Flamingo

standing on one leg can be pretty tiring
not so as the flamingo is actually resting
the half of the body
not on the standing leg is really
asleep switching later without thwarting

For A to Z Challenge :  F

you must have a small appetite

                                                                                    Author Allan Whittome (Whitto)
Image: The Echidna (spiny anteater) (here)

Of family Tachyglossidae, has a long tongue 
of around 18cm that can whip in and out of 
its mouth at incredible speeds. Apparently, 
they might not be the same as the Old World 
porcupines of family Hystricidae, and of the 
New World porcupines of family Erethizontidae.

Theme: Animals E for Echidna 

spiny anteater, you are fascinating
nature has decided that your diet
comprise of tiny ants
you must have a small appetite
to survive with just swooshes of
your long tongue

it would mean many many swooshes
per anthill or you would have to
look for many, many anthills

Life can be pretty tiring or you may
choose to go hungry - what a choice!

For A to Z Challenge:  E

runs in the race but never winning

                                                                                        Author: unknown
Image: A Hook-nosed Dodo (here)
a) large extinct flightless bird found 
on Mauritius until the end of the 17th century  
b) an old-fashioned and ineffective person.

Theme: Animals - D for Dodo

dodos like the platypus forgotten
in the separation of land mass found
respectively only in Mauritius and
Australia but the dodos unlike the
latter ended  as a sad consequence
of exposure to early settlers

being flightless most vulnerable easily
likened to the turkey as an attraction
that it became extinct within
a short space of 50 years

now only remembered not in a celebrated
way as a person who runs in the race but
never winning

For A to Z Challenge:  D
Magaly's at PU's Poetry Pantry  -  telling tales 

How to launder strengths to last longer

                                                                                                 Author Ishai Parasol
Image: A Camel Convoy  (here)

Theme: Animals - C for Camels

To ask for relief on a tired traveler
In a slush trudging in a sea of sand
Following one behind the other
In a long line for miles without a bend

Perhaps to hit an oasis a trite too soon
Melting under the scorch of the burning sun
An option of not many choices of doom
Maybe in spirit the mind spells fun

A sign of not accepting defeat
Where words of wisdom truly thrive
Succulent to the inner self in deeds
Trying times but given to lots of drive

In a land devoid of opportunities
That a desert can offer to camel travellers
Heatstrokes can well be an ailment to see
How to launder strengths to last longer

For the A to Z Challenge: C
Mish's at d'Verse OLN #240

cooperation in the animal world

                                                                                            Author: Charles J Sharp
Image: An African Buffalo (here)

Theme: Animals  - B for Buffalo

an ox-pecker perched gingerly mindful
not to unsettle on a soulmate
having a nose area a larder of live goodies

such is the quiet endeavor in acts
of cooperation in the animal world

the heavy-set  buffalo unperturbed
maligned a little surveying the scene
perhaps with designs to turn itself
into a martyr of sorts fighting
for a cause in friendly relationships

it provides a respite to review its
thoughts without panting in excitement
with negligible distractions to both

For the A to Z Challenge: B

'to hang an albatross around his neck'

                                                                                                Author Duncan Wright
Image: Gibson's Albatross a subspecies
of Antipodean Albatross (here)

Theme: Animals - A for Albatross

seafaring folks are beset with dangers

in their travels praying for kind weather
or alternatively not to invoke
acts of ill-luck on the high seas
the ancient mariner chose 'to hang
an albatross around his neck'
 a senseless act that attracted
immediate retribution

a moral message 'warning against
thoughtless and foolhardy actions
that invoked grave consequences

For the A to Z April Challenge - A