On Armadillos

Decidely a most peculiar sight
Seemingly none too bright
Always getting run over by some car
Quite strange animals you are.
Miniature dinosaurs from the ancient past
Amazingly into modern times you somehow managed to last.
Covered not with hair or fur but with many a hard scale
From the tip of your long, pointy snout to the end of your rat tail,
Your short, gray body sports tiny ears, beady eyes,
You're usually encountered on your back, dead eyes staring at blue skies,
Very low to the ground you are cast
But stubby legs can carry you surprisingly fast,
Powerful claws dig deep holes in the ground,
I have never heard even one of you make the first sound!
Body covered with bony armor plates for protection
Rolling up into a ball is the defensive strategy of your selection,
Your back rounded into a permanent hunch
When hit by that car you deliver a sickening crunch.
Throughout the West and South you now roam
Having rapidly spread from your original Texas home.
Do what you will
Your destiny is to become roadkill.

Harry Edward Gilleland      08.25.01    printer friendly