The Turtle Crossing

                                                           (Picture by M. Zexter)

Nobody likes to be double crossed

Especially a Turtle at a Turtle crossing

As I was making my way in New Hampshire

I passed a Coon, Frog and deer crossing

This fourth crossing -our family crossing-

Was coming soon

Getting into the Express Lane

I got caught in a quagmire

An unexpected puddle and mud 

Be-stilled me

It -the Mud- made its way up my shell

I squiggled and shook

Looking like an exotic dancer.

Indeed as Mom looked at me from behind

I was the butt of all jokes

And had she Instagrammed or Tick Toked me 

What might seem like a Turtle doing a backstroke in a dance club

I would have had to bear the  mental anguish spearing and sending fraught into  my Turtle brain

For Light Years to come.

So thank you Mom for taking me to the Turtle Crossing

A safe haven in Turtle Speak

You, reader, may find me meek

But come on, touch the  multiple folds of my skin

Part of my original physique 

And next time, turn my shell so I may head for the creek

And cross, and cross

Feeling the strength of Ancient Greek.