Two Twosomes Compete

A slug is a snail

Without his house,

A pee-chink is a firefly

Whose light’s been doused.

Of these twosomes

I will tell you a tale

It is an original

Hence, it is not stale.

I will start with the two

I mentioned at first,

I think this is better

Than doing the reverse.

The slug and the snail

Lined up for a race,

They had had an argument

Concerning their pace.

The slug said he was faster

The snail disagreed

So the race was set up

To test their pedigree.

They argued much

But on a few things agreed,

Such as the length of the race

And the matter of speed.

A hundred-metre drag

To be slimed in a straight line,

The track was to be visible

No issues about time.

The slug’s strategy

Was to slug it all the way,

Snail pace couldn’t match him

This would be slug’s day.

The snail had thought

About leaving off his home

But he did not want to look

Like a slug’s clone.

  

The time of the day

Was in snail’s favour,

It was at mid-day

But snail had some shelter.

Slug had none

But he did not mind,

This race would be over

In less than no time.

He had practised hard

Albeit at night,

But being of lighter weight

Things were just right.

Snail on the other hand

Would just take his time,

He was pretty sure

Slug would run out of slime.

To your mark

The race starter said

And with that both snail and slug

Push out their heads.

It took a little time

To get to the line

And in so doing

They used up much slime.

Get set, Go! Get set, Go…!

Four times it was said,

No movement for a while

It appeared they were dead.

At last, there was a trail

A short silvery line,

Both slug and snail

Were taking their time.

This was a marathon

As you would expect

And at the time of writing

They hadn’t finished yet.

I learned some time later

Snail jettisoned his house,

And slug objected

And called him a louse.

But soon afterward

Slug crawled into it

And felt quite comfortable

Since it was a fit.

So snail became slug

And slug became snail

And the attempt to see who was faster

Totally failed.

I wanted to give some time

So that you could think

But then I thought

On to the firefly and pee-chink.

As you would expect

This is not another race

But about which of these two

One could easier trace.

Of course, it will depend

On the time of the day,

If it’s the night time

Both could have a say.

At night the firefly

Is very easy to trace,

You can see them flying around

Lighting up the place.

On and off

Like flying traffic lights,

Like twinkle, twinkle stars

Shining in the night.

They are quite ordinary

When seen in the day

But at nights

They just like to show the way.

Not so attractive

The little green pee-chink,

Like the notorious skunk

It carries a stink.

It is aptly named

If you see what I mean,

It there was a colour for smelly

It would have to be green.

Bed chinks and pee-chinks

They both smell bad

But the pee-chink

Is the worse we have ever had.

It grows on you

Be it day or night,

If you ever see a pee-chink

Don’t interrupt its flight.

I caution you again

Leave that pee-chink alone

For if you ever touch it

Then you’ll be on your own.

The sun is too bright

To trace firefly in the day

But day or night

Pee-chink smell won’t go away.

It doesn’t carry a light

But it will light up the place,

Pee-chink is the winner

It is easier to trace.

There is no winner

Re the slug and the snail

But re pee-chink and firefly

Pee-chink smell will never fail.

Stewart Russell © April 2019