The (REAL) Tale of the Tortoise and the Hare- poem by Ross David Tyler

 

The (REAL) Tale of the Tortoise and the Hare

I request to read the poem in the above link and then my review. Thanks.

The story of ‘The hare and the tortoise’ is a popular fable from time immemorial. The rabbit is too proud and over confident, and slowly but steadily the tortoise moves forward and wins. But the entire story has been changed keeping in view the modern times and the poem ends with the most unexpected twist:

And Tortoise went on to win the race,

Skipping over the finish line.

But Hurman stumbled and hit the dirt,

On Badgers well placed Mine.

And with a gigantic explosion,

Nobody saw where he fell.

The only part of Herman left,

Was his empty shell.

So let there be no argument,

Let us not begin to quibble.

Herman may have crossed the line first,

But the winner was surely Nibbles?

Certainly we feel very much sorry for the tortoise but was he innocent? Please see this stanza:

Yet this Army Tortoise gathered,

Well, they didn’t play a part,

It was Chameleon who shot Nibbles,

With a tranquilizer dart.

And beneath the tree, poor Hare collapsed,

Deep in tranquil sleep.

The doctor couldn’t revive him,

For at least another week!

So the race was never run on fair grounds. Each one had conspired against the other. The poet subtly reminds us of the avarice of the heads of various countries during first and second world wars, In various pages of history, the bigotry of religious heads and fundamentalists, the ferocity of perpetrators of racist massacres and the indifference of the developed world towards the debilitated tribes and aboriginals which have made us doubt what evolution took place at all in humans! This poem at the outset is meant for children and one might wonder whether landmine and tranquilizer and machine guns could find a mention in the poem. Is it correct? But if we have a word with children, they have an answer. They have all these in the animated games they play through the apps. People at the helm of affairs of primary school and middle school syllabus must think of including modern poems like this and make the kids appreciate why the misadventures and barbarity seen in history must never get repeated.