A Note for Folks with Totem Animals

[level_head]

I wrote of tigers and their qualities
And commented that many strive to learn
Such noble attributes as some of these
And thus, in time, more harmony they'd earn.

A female friend -- a Cat as she's shown here --
wrote back that this concept should well extend
To any feline type that might appear...
And this was the reply back to my friend:

Hello CatsWhisker! Yes, you're quite correct.
And any with a totem tetrapod.
But all of us are bettered, I'd expect,
By attributes of Nature, deep and broad.

We ponder symbols, Tigers and the like,
and say "Oh, yes, I'd like to be like that!"
The eye of eagle, fleeting wings of shrike--
But few say "Walrus! I would like HIS fat!"

Still, Walruses are nimble in their way,
And they fulfill their own important role.
(The baby-seal folks have a louder say--
And that's okay if cute's your only goal...)

But we look out and ponder on the world
And should adopt all good traits that we can.
Thus, while your Cat or Dragon flag's unfurled,
You're better yet at being, simply, Man.

(I struggled before writing "Man" just then--
As gender-neutral it should be, but ain't.
Ah, well. The "Human" didn't quite fit in...
As poet, well, you knew I was no saint.)

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