Animal Voices, Unicorn Whispers

The eggshell cracked and the dome broke away
Revealing a world infinitely larger than yesterday
A duckling lifted her head, shook out her wings
Wet scraggly feathers drying into yellow things
Across the grass she raised her eyes
And met a gaze both fierce and kind

Tentacles writhing 'round a glowing face
To a naive mind, a motherly shape
Stranger than a swan
A formative moment, now and gone


Ducklings imprint on the first creature they see
Usually a ducky, but they're not always that lucky
For on that day, an alien on a pleasure cruise
Had flown by the Solar System's way…
The alien traveler had crossed the stars
Relativistic centuries in her flying car
Skipping like a stone across the lake of the sky
Landing on Earth, just passing by
She smiled with her tentacular mouth
Stroked the yellow downy feathers, tender and proud

The duckling basked in the warmth and love
Of a mother who'd descended from above
Stranger than a swan
A formative moment, now and gone


Two ducks waddled down the bank
Brown-speckled, green-headed, with feet that were webbed
A gaggle of yellow ducklings behind
They'd tend and care for her as one of their kind
But somehow, they'd never match the image in her head
Of the glorious purple, tentacled mother who'd already fled

Stranger than a swan, she'll always feel
Like she belongs to another world
The moment passed, and the alien moved along
Left the duckling behind with a lifelong song
Of being something she's not, never was
Stranger than a swan because
She'll always be in love with
An image no one else will understand
Stranger than a swan, gloriously alien and grand

Stranger than a swan
A formative moment, now and gone

Gurty snuffled through the melon patch,
Snorting at the vines,
Looking for a playmate there,
But no one had the time.
The bird was gone, the bugs were still,
The day was slow and long,
So she curled beneath the karillow tree,
And listened to her master’s song

"Does the sky know what I know?
"Diddle-eee-diddle-i
"Does the sky know what I know?
If it doesn't, I wonder why…"

Her master tells of gryphons gone,
And vermin in the vines,
Little Lainey laughs and stomps along,
Counting melons one at a time

Gurty checks the melons, every single one
Sniffing while the master rocks them in the sun
But then she finds something strange beside the lake
Oblong-round and green with stripes, but wrong and ready to break

Oh, Gurty girl, with a nose so true,
She knew what the melons hid from view.
At the edge of the lake, where the waters run,
Gurty checks the melons, every single one

Clomp clomp clomp goes Lainey, placing little feet with care
Between the tender vines while master tells tales of what used to be here

But Gurty sniffs and sneezes and whines,
At a fruit that smells all wrong,
It rocks and cracks and splits apart,
While her master carries on

Oh, Gurty girl, with a nose so true,
She knew what the melons hid from view.
At the edge of the lake, where the waters run,
Gurty checks the melons, every single one

It looked like a melon but it didn't smell like a melon
No gonging sweetness, no tang of green vine
Just musty with the sour smell of twigs
It was a Doesn't-Smell-Like-a-Melon, and Gurty drew the line

She circled round her master's feet with concern deep in her eyes
But he kept talking about water dragons, and boy, were they in for a surprise

A horn broke through, a scaled small head,
A dragonling was born,
Golden hide and whiskered face,
With wings so small, so worn.
And Gurty nosed the newborn close,
Like a puppy she could claim,
The little beast looked up at her,
And decided "Mother" was Gurty's name

Oh, Gurty girl, with a nose so true,
She knew what the melons hid from view.
At the edge of the lake, where the waters run,
Gurty checks the melons, every single one

They found six more eggs around the lake that day
Two never hatched but four more dragons came to stay
Puppy-sized and wriggling, following Gurty everywhere
Golden living treasures, a water dragon's heirs

Oh, Gurty girl, with a nose so true,
The dragons follow where she moves.
At the edge of the lake, where the waters run,
She found her brood, and they found their mom.

Sheep tell many tales as they graze the days away
Counting clouds and four-leafed clovers, passing time
One of their stories, most amazing, is of the sheep who prayed and prayed
For a lamb, until the fairies answered her bleating rhymes

Soft-as-Snow is an old sheep now
And her eyes are always on the skies
Watching for her daughter there
Half sheep, half air
A cloud so fair that brings blessing rain and cooling shade
A sheeperfly, who the fairies made

One spring, Soft-as-Snow heard a bell-like voice
A golden butterfly, singing that her heart could rejoice
For her prayers had been heard, for the cost of a nest
In the wool behind her ear, he laid an egg
Small and dear, the price was more than fair

Soft-as-Snow sang each night with all her heart
Felt foolish as the days passed with running start
But a bump grew behind her ear like matted wool
Acorn-sized, then -chestnut, getting full!

One dewy morning, like a dream
Six tiny hooves and bright white wings
Emerged and flew
A caterpillar of a sheep
Oh, the joy she knew!
A tiny lamb to call her own
And if it was a queer, strange lamb
Why with how much she loved it, you'd never know

Soft-as-Snow sang each night with all her heart
Feeling joyous as the days passed with a running start
But caterpillars become cocoons
And far too soon, Soft-as-Snow's joy was wrapped in wool

Autumn came and the air grew chill
Soft-as-Snow shivered and couldn't keep still
The cocoon lay quiet, still as stone,
And Soft-as-Snow felt all alone

But then one morning, like a dream
A shining fog of bright white light
Emerged and flew up to the sky
A butterfly of a cloud
Oh, Soft-as-Snow was proud!
A fluffy sky-sheep to call her own
And if it was a queer, strange sheep
Why with how much she loved it, you'd never know

Now every summer, when heat runs high,
Raindrops fall like kisses from the sky
Her body a puff of cumulonimbus bright
Her cirrostratus wings stretched out in flight

Myze tell tales by the hawthorn tree
Of hooked beaks, moon-gold eyes that see
“Death from the sky,” the elders say
An owl’s shadow means you won’t get away

But one small mouse with a copper-bright mind
Would test the dark the others shunned
His name was Randal, tinkerer bold
With oil on his paws and a heart like a spark in the cold

He found green circuit boards dotted with colored knobs
Traced with lines of silver, magic in the scraps
He wired them together, exhausting work
A thimble cap with braided wire,
A cheese-grater cage that hummed like a demented choir.
Brielle the ant, outcast and brave,
Kept watch by the latch of his makeshift grave;

He threw the switch and his paws were gone
Falling, flapping—wings, all wrong
Talons curled beneath him in the upside-down sky
He'd forgot (or never known!) how to fly
But he remembered mid-dive

Another owl found him, led him to a bar
Umbrellas for a roof in the branches up far
Quilts for walls in clashing colors bright
"Join me for a bite?" she asked that night

She flew him to a city with living wooden walls
Living halls grown from braided boughs,
Maps of wind in the painters’ vows;
Bat-carved stone and bonsai trades,
Younglings tumbling on woven glades.
A gingko bell where the elders meet—
Nineteen winters and still their hearts beat

Then the cathedral built from four red maples woven
Wisteria and honeysuckle, flowers golden
Fireflies dancing, trained to light the space
A sermon about stewardship and every small creature's place

One night in Nocturnia, under whispering leaves,
Mercy wore feathers and the darkness grieved
He borrowed a body and saw what he feared

One night in Nocturnia
Then the timer ran out
One night in Nocturnia
Left him filled with doubt

Randal woke in his cheese-grater cage
Only one night, but oh, how he'd aged
Brielle the ant had left in fright
Terrified by what she'd seen that night
The mind of an owl, trapped in a mouse
More than enough to send a tender-hearted ant to the madhouse

One night in Nocturnia
Then the timer ran out
One night in Nocturnia
Left him filled with doubt

Randal's muzzle's graying now, his days left are few
Can't share his thoughts — who would believe it's true?
Owls are gentle titans with a vibrant world
Not the nightmares from the sky, not as he'd been told

One night in Nocturnia, under whispering leaves,
Mercy wore feathers and the darkness grieved

Down the river Arlow came, pedaling hard with dreams aflame
Of ocean waves and siren songs, a place where a clever otter inventor might belong
With turbines turning, water churning, through the bends his heart was yearning
For the roar of distant tides, and what the sea might hold inside

He found a mermaid in the caves, racing through the ocean waves
She was magic, she was wild, she was beauty, sea lion style
But he couldn't see the truth, blinded by his inventor's youth
That love is not a thing to fix with gears and bolts and metal sticks

Angelica, she stole his heart, swimming like a work of art
With flippers bright and eyes that shone, she made the ocean feel like home
They kissed beneath the kelp and stone, explored a world he'd never known
But Arlow had his clever plans, to reshape her with his hands

He built her looms to string her beads, mechanical legs for walking needs
Each gift he gave with pride and hope, not seeing how she couldn't cope
"I'll make you faster, make you more," he promised from his workshop door
But she just wanted him to see, the beauty in what she could already be

He found a mermaid in the caves, racing through the ocean waves
She was magic, she was wild, she was beauty, sea lion style
But he couldn't see the truth, blinded by his inventor's youth
That love is not a thing to fix with gears and bolts and metal sticks

"Will you marry me?" he asked, "Will you walk beside me at last?"
The shining legs between them gleamed, but she refused his chrome-plated dream
She dove away into the blue, leaving him to think things through
In the twilight depths below, where he finally came to know

She gave him beads of purple shell, a necklace woven with a spell
Of hours spent and loving care, of beauty found in being there
"I won't walk beside you, no — but if you'll share my waters' flow
Live here with me in these caves, then I'll be yours for all my days"

He found a mermaid in the caves, learned to love her ocean ways
She was perfect as she was, he was brilliant just because
Sometimes love means letting go, of the things we think we know
She didn't need his metal frames — she just needed him to stay

She was magic, she was wild, she was beauty, sea lion style
And he learned the truth, eyes opened, despite his inventor's youth
That love is not a thing to fix with gears and bolts and metal sticks

Together they were magic, they were wild
Both river otter and sea lion style

The last camper had gone away, the gate was locked at end of day
But the forest folk had waited long, for their turn to sing the summer songs
The squirrels called "all clear!" to the trees, raccoons and bobcats, birds and bees
They gathered at the fireless pit, beneath the stars the forest lit

When the humans leave, the real camp begins
Moose sing low and squirrels dance high
Raccoons croon and the beavers grin
While the jays write patterns in the sky

They cooked their breakfasts, strange and sweet, seedy cakes and fish to eat
They tried their hands at human things, archery and crafts with beads and strings
The raccoons shot an arrow wide, the bobcats screamed from a zip-line ride
And someone said, "Let's race canoes!"—so they divided up in crews

The squirrels built a bedsheet sail, the jays made harnesses without fail
The beavers built a platform grand, the raccoons fought upon the sand
The squirrels flipped and couldn't swim, the moose waded out to rescue them
And the birds just chanted, tug and fall, 'til they won the race for all

When the humans leave, the real camp begins
Moose sing low and squirrels dance high
Raccoons croon and the beavers grin
While the jays write patterns in the sky

When the humans leave, the real camp begins
Moose sing low and squirrels dance high
Raccoons croon and the beavers grin
While the jays write patterns in the sky

The eggs never hatched, they never would
Henrietta had love but no one to brood
Nine inches below in the cold, dark earth
A hungry kit searched for warmth and worth
His siblings were sleeping, fading away
But he climbed up through the slats that day

She didn't know what a fox could be
He didn't know he wasn't meant to be
A chicken in a henhouse, loved and warm
Until instinct woke up in a terrible storm

"What lovely plumage, red like mine!"
Henrietta thought he was a sign
She named him Henry, kept him fed
On eggs and warmth and a feathered bed
The chickens wondered as he grew
"Perhaps he is a rooster," they all cooed

Calliope was clever, downy white
She taught him pecking in the fading light
They set a wedding, built a nest
Henrietta said, "Follow your heart, it knows best"
With flowers and worms and vows sincere
The chickens celebrated, holding Henry dear

In the marriage nest he pressed too close
Following the feelings he wanted most
His teeth on her neck, his instincts true
And suddenly Henry finally knew
What he was, what he'd always been
A fox can't be a hen

She didn't know what a fox could be
He didn't know he wasn't meant to be
A chicken in a henhouse, loved and warm
Until instinct woke up in a terrible storm

The bloodlust came like a fever dream
Feathers flying, terrible screams
Henrietta, Dorrit, all the rest
The ones who'd cherished him, loved him best
He ran into the forest, finally seeing clear
A fox alone, having eaten all he'd held dear

Now he knows what a fox must be
Now he knows he was never meant to be
A chicken in a henhouse, safe and warm
He survived the instinct, survived the storm
But he's lean and strong and all alone
And he misses his chickens
He misses his home

In a hollow log that smells like earth
He remembers the place of his second birth
He's a deadly hunter, a fox again
But he misses his chickens
And his life back then

Igor the fox limped across the tundra white, dragging bodies through the night
His left hindpaw was dead and cold, but he served the mouse who made him whole
Frankie's castle rose like heaven's dream, ice and towers, turrets gleam
Igor dug up Dusky Dillon's grave, a snow leopard fierce and brave

Igor believed in the castle made of ice
Glittering spires, a paradise
Dancing mice in velvet fine
But no one else could see the shine
What's real and what's inside your mind
When a computer chip decides what you can find?

Owls attacked him in the dark, tore the leopard's face apart
Igor stitched the pieces new, owl head, leopard body true
Wings of white and spotted fur, Frankie made a gryphon of her
Dillon woke with yellow eyes, loyal soldier in disguise

They robbed the graves, they dug all night, poisoned mice by candlelight
Frankie built an army strong, but something here was very wrong
Igor loved the castle so, but Dillon said she couldn't know
"What castle?" asked the gryphon cold, blind to all the ice and gold

The others couldn't see it either, only barracks, cold and bleaker
Igor threw himself at the wall, but there was nothing there at all
Just whiteness, emptiness, and air — a quarry and despair
The castle was a beautiful lie, a program written in his mind

Igor believed in the castle made of ice
Glittering spires, a paradise
Dancing mice in velvet fine
But no one else could see the shine
What's real and what's inside your mind
When a computer chip decides what you will find?

Igor broke into Frankie's room, found the truth inside the gloom
Typed the words UNIVERSAL OVERWRITE
Now all the mice could see the light
They danced and sang and drank the air
Finally, the castle's beauty everywhere

"You and your damned obsession!" Frankie squeaked a harsh confession
"I'd delete it from your brain, but your chip won't let me make the change
The castle isn't real!" Frankie cried, but Igor wouldn't be denied
"If you can't see your own creation, then you need the same salvation"

Dillon held Frankie down on the table
Igor raised the saw as steady as he was able
"We love you, Master, can't you see?
Soon you'll know the castle's majesty"
What's real and what's inside your mind?
When a computer chip decides what you can find?

Now Frankie too believes in the castle made of ice
Glittering spires, a paradise
Dancing mice in velvet fine
Now they all can see the shine
What's real and what's inside your mind
When a computer chip decides what you will find…

Amber drips from the ribs of the hive—
not honey, but something that learned to survive.
Gold and goo, sweet counterfeit sin,
feasted on the workers and the drones and their kin.
Eggs like dough, little futures undone—
all of them swallowed, all but one.

She hovers above with trembling wings,
ancient and fragile, tied up in memory’s strings.
“Why am I living?” she buzzed to the flood,
blue sky reflected in her children’s blood.

"You say you love me, say you set me free,
"you unmade my hive and left only me.
"But love is not ruin; your worship is mean—
"They were not a prison; I was their queen."

Up rises a face from the golden pool,
mandibles wide, antennae askew.
“I idolize you and broke your chains,”
it slurs as it puddles back down the plains.
Sliding away in a glimmering line,
A shimmer of hunger, leaving the queen behind.

"You say you love me, say you set me free,
"you unmade my hive and left only me.
"But love is not ruin; your worship is mean—
"They were not a prison; I was their queen."

Up from the branch, she flies into the blue,
forgetting the weight of the labor she knew.
Peace in the losing, peace in the height,
alone in an ocean of generous light.

Freedom can look like a hollowed out comb—
or the first wild mile flown away from home.
Perhaps the amber creature wasn't wholly wrong—
Perhaps the queen had been a prisoner all along

Behind her flight, the corridors hum—
workers bewildered, drones struck dumb.
What vision of dusk drew their monarch away?
What adolescent whim called their aging crown to stray?

Was the gold a hunger or a fever dream?
Midlife mirage to escape hexagonal beams?

"You say you love me, say you set me free,
"you unmade my hive and left only me.
"Sometimes love is ruin; worship can be mean—
"They were my prison; I'm no longer their queen."
"They were my prison; I'm no longer their queen."

The bear cub's paws were covered in honey, dripping gold
She'd found her mother's secret stash and ate it all, so bold
Behind the cereal boxes—really, what a place to hide!
Now Sandra couldn't shake the evidence, no matter how she tried

Sugar in her belly, laughter bubbling up
The bear cub felt like she could do anything, like she could never stop
Sticky paws and giggles, rolling on the floor
She was the honey jar now, 'cause the honey was no more

Her little sister found her, brought their mother to the scene
Sandra kept on laughing like she'd never been so keen
"You're giddy," mother said, and washed the sticky from her paws
With horrible green soap that made the giggling pause

Mama Bear took her outside to run it off, hopping, skipping, climbing on the rocks
Her sister tried to follow, but couldn't match Sandra's sugar-shock
She circled all the trees and jumped the neighbor's wall
Until the honey turned to bees inside her, buzzing louder than it all

By the creek they found her, eyes as glassy as the water
The sugar crash came crashing down on Mama Bear's dizzy daughter
"Sugar crashing is no fun," her mother said with care
But Sandra disagreed — the sugar high was more than worth the wear

Sugar in her belly, laughter bubbling up
The bear cub felt like she could do anything, like she could never stop
Sticky paws and giggles, rolling on the floor
She was the honey jar now, 'cause the honey was no more

Little Sister wanted honey too — and it seemed only fair
But Mama Bear trudged back home with two tired cubs to bear
Some lessons can't be learned by being told, it's true
And some lessons can't be learned at all, no matter what you do
Mama Bear sighed and thought about a better place to hide
The honey jar that made her cub go on that sugar ride

Sugar in her belly, laughter bubbling up
The bear cub felt like she could do anything, like she could never stop
Sticky paws and giggles, rolling on the floor
She was the honey jar now, 'cause the honey was no more
She was the honey jar now, 'cause the honey was no more
The honey was no more

Arlene the river otter raised a child who looked like her
A little orphan found behind the inn, alone and small
She'd never planned on being someone's mother
But Elijah changed it all

She taught him how her loom could string the beads
Rode him on her watercycle through the coastal seas
While all the sea lions shook their heads and judged
She loved him more than they could ever see

Then one day he swam too deep, got lost beneath the waves
(River otters can't breathe as deep as sea lions under the waves)
Arlene dove down through the kelp and fear, her child she had to save
He came up coughing, shaking, scared, and from that moment on
The little otter wouldn't swim — all his courage gone

He made excuses, found delays, pretended he was fine
His mother watched and waited, feeling helpless and alone
An otter stuck between two worlds, trying to bring him home
He came up coughing, shaking, scared, and from that moment on
The little otter wouldn't swim — all his courage gone

"Let's go diving," Arlene said, "down where the jellyfish glow
But we'll wear breathing masks I made, so you'll be safe below"
His eyes lit up with hope again, a rope to climb back out
She'd give him what he needed to conquer his doubt

They swam down through the kelp so green, deeper than before
He rode upon her back at first, then caught the jellies more and more
Moon jellies and sea nettles filled their pack up to the brim
And slowly, stroke by stroke, the water gave him back to him

Swimming through the kelp, underneath the moonlight
We're eating jellyfish for dinner tonight
We're eating jellyfish for dinner tonight

They surfaced with a hero's haul, the village gathered 'round
Elijah poured the jellyfish out, by the cooking fire on the ground
The sea lions cheered and clapped for him, his pride was shining bright
His mother watched from by the fire beneath the starry night

She didn't always know who she was anymore
Raising him had changed her right down to the core
But even eclipses pass and leave the world seeming brighter than before
And she was glad she'd helped him face his fright
Glad she'd helped him find his way back to delight

Swimming through the kelp, underneath the moonlight
We're eating jellyfish for dinner tonight
We're eating jellyfish for dinner tonight

There was once a sheep that could have been a sheep with fifteen other sheep
But a man came from the petting zoo and said, "Come live with me"
So that one sheep left the farm behind for pygmy goats and ponies small
Then there were fifteen sheep, then there were fifteen sheep in all

A woman came from the circus, needed three to jump and fly
To balance on a giant ball and soar up trapeze-high
Three sheep ran away to join her, left the farm life far behind
Then there were twelve sheep, then there were only twelve sheep you could find

One by one they left the farm, chasing dreams across the land
Some to beaches, some to space, some to join a rock'n'roll band

Two sheep heard of California sun and sand and surfing waves
They caught the next train to the coast, trading pastures for the bays
Then there were ten sheep, then there were ten sheep on the farm
Four pooled their money for a submarine, saying adventure has its charm

Four sheep had talent, drums and guitar, keyboards and a horn
They jammed together, made some magic, and a rock'n'roll band was born
They left to tour the world with millions of screaming fans
Then there were two sheep, just two sheep making final plans

"We'd better stick together," one sheep said unto the other
But a spaceship came from outer space and took away her brother
The alien invited him to explore the galaxy
Then there was one sheep, only one sheep, finally free

One by one they left the farm, chasing dreams across the land
Some to beaches, some to space, some to join a rock'n'roll band
Until there was just one sheep, one sheep standing all alone
And that one sheep got what she wanted — she got to stay at home

Only one sheep, and that sheep got what she had wanted all along
She stayed and ran the farm, right where she did belong
One sheep, just one sheep
One sheep, only one sheep
She stayed and ran the farm

By the lake she hid in the rushes,
Cubs and cousins left behind.
Father spoke with the shining unicorn,
But Sarah held her tongue, stayed quiet, confined.
She dreamed of a horn on her forehead,
Silver light in the forest air—
A story untold, a spark in her soul,
But no one seemed to care

Her father laughed at her yearning,
Said, “You're not as special as you think you are.”
But frogs and fairies and tiny ladybugs
Saw her fire, gravitated toward her like a shining star
She told them stories, sang them songs

With petals, moss, and daisies,
She grew herself a crown,
She whispered all her stories
To Luna moths and butterflies
Letting out the creativity, she'd always held inside

Sarah Flowermane, growing wild and free,
A garden on her head, a world inside to see.
Stories blooming brighter than the golden savannah plain,
Kindness in her heart, she is Sarah Flowermane.

Sarah thought she needed her father's pride,
But finally one day, the unicorn knelt down by her side.
“Beloved,” said the unicorn, “you’re already known—
In frogsong, in birdsong, your kindness has grown.”
"You don't need your father's praise,
When you already shine brighter than the savannah sun's rays"

Sarah Flowermane, growing wild and free,
A garden on her head, a world inside to see.
Stories blooming brighter than the golden savannah plain,
Kindness in her heart, she is Sarah Flowermane.

Tell your tales on the moonlit planes,
Sing your name, Sarah Flowermane.
Sarah Flowermane

One paw in front of the other, she kept moving through the day
Everyone said they were sorry, but she didn't feel that way
She and Pia had picked blackberries together every summer since they'd been kits
Now Pia's buried beneath a boulder, and Kwiley can't admit…

She wasn't sad, she wasn't sad
More blackberries for her
She wasn't sad, she told herself
But her paws knew where to go…

To the Emerald Swamp where running water goes to die
Where dragonflies are hovering with jewel-cut eyes
Sapphire and turquoise, they say they hold the souls
Of every otter lost too young, or so the legend goes

A dragonfly landed and said to her, "I'm not playing games
"I'm not your lost friend's soul, I have my own name"
It told her of the naiads who never learned to fly
And Kwiley saw her foolishness reflected in its eyes

But golden kits that would never be
And summers with no one to race
The dreams she'd never said out loud
Were unshed tears, threatening to stream down her face

In the Emerald Swamp where running water goes to die
Where dragonflies are hovering with jewel-cut eyes
Sapphire and turquoise, the legends may be lies
But Kwiley leaned in close and let sharp teeth make up her mind

The carapace crunched; its wings melted on her tongue
Not sweet like blackberries, but the sour deed was done
If Pia's soul had found a way to the Emerald Swamp
Where cattails and rushes swayed
If an otter's soul becomes a dragonfly
Well, that soul was now, in her belly, deep inside
Every blackberry, every stream, they'd share it all somehow
Because Pia's soul was deep inside her now

She left the swamp where running water goes to die
Where dragonflies are hovering with jewel-cut eyes
Sapphire and turquoise, the legends may be lies
But sometimes the best comfort comes from eating dragonflies

One paw in front of the other
She's ready to face all the coming days
Until the waterslides of the afterlife
She'll have to find her own way

In the haunted meadow, where a primrose grew teeth,
A rabbit white as sunlight laid her body in the leaves.
One was born to swallow, one was born to flee—
Yet in the stillness of the twilight, they found each other's company.

She called it Poet Plant, it named her Sun’s Kin,
Predator and prey became something else within.
It supped on moths and owls, yet Sun's Kin slept safe and sound under Poet Plant's jowls
They turned the ancient story, flipped it upside down.
Poet Plant and Sun's Kin, the most unlikely friendship around

One was meant for stillness, one was born to run,
One drank from the darkness, one carried the sun.
Fragile breath and tendrils in a tangled, tender spell,
Bound together longer than the world could tell.
They turned the ancient story, flipped it upside down.
Poet Plant and Sun's Kin, the most unlikely friendship around

Years slowed the rabbit, her white fur dimmed to gray,
The plant begged to follow, not to outlive her day.
But she whispered, “You must outlast me, let your children grow.
Fill the downs with voices that will sing of what we know.”

A carnivorous plant and a rabbit by its side,
Hunter and the hunted, yet no hunger could divide.
Roots twined with her heartbeat, trust where fear should dwell,
Love grew in the silence of a frond farewell.
They turned the ancient story, flipped it upside down.
Poet Plant and Sun's Kin, the most unlikely friendship around

Predator and prey, the oldest tale we tell…
But they chose another ending, in a frond farewell.

Under hospital lights, the big dog lay still
Her masters held her paws, their eyes love-filled.
The doctor bent low, then rose with a sigh,
Placed a swaddled bundle in the young mother’s arms nearby.

And the dog thought: this is the best puppy ever,
Born from my heart, though it looks so strange
Golden curls, blue eyes forever
The kind of love no law could change
Yes, she knew she would guard it for the rest of her life
The best puppy ever, the best puppy of all time

The park dogs had warned her, “they’ll take your puppies away.”
But none of them had been to the hospital that day
No litter of four, not a litter of eight—
One puppy who looked just like her human masters, for this surrogate

And the dog thought: this is the best puppy ever,
Born from my heart, though it looks so strange
Golden curls, blue eyes forever
The kind of love no law could change
Yes, she knew she would guard it for the rest of her life
The best puppy ever, the best puppy of all time

The doctor spoke coldly of surrogates and sales
Of goat feasts and contracts, of endings that failed
But Bree and Geoff whispered, “we’ll keep her right here—
A nanny dog watching, year after year.”

So the Bernese bent low, pressed her muzzle with care
To the baby she’d carried, to the life they now shared
Her tail thumped softly, her brown eyes shone bright—
“We can share her,” she promised, to her masters that night

And the dog thought: this is the best puppy ever,
Born from my heart, though it looks so strange
Golden curls, blue eyes forever
The kind of love no law could change
Yes, she knew she would guard it for the rest of her life
The best puppy ever, the best puppy of all time

It is a truth quite plain, universally confessed,
That a cat and an empty box are perfectly matched, heaven blessed
No matter what the humans say, no matter what they do,
Every cardboard treasure will belong to some feline, true!

A box, a box, the rightful property,
Of every noble kitty in the whole menagerie!
A box, a box, for sitting, not for socks—
It is a truth universally acknowledged, cats must always have the box!

“My dear Miss Kitty,” the dog began to say,
“The Amazon truck is here at last today!”
“I smelled the cardboard, oh what a wondrous prize—
And surely our masters will share what hides inside
with me, when I use my best puppy-dog eyes.”

But a box, a box, container most divine,
And as such could only ever belong to a feline

But a box, a box, belongs to cats alone,
For what is ordered, shipped, and sold is held in something loaned
A box, a box, the dog may sniff and prance,
But once the cardboard’s empty, it belongs to the nearest cat, perchance!

“Don't you wonder," barked the dog, "what lies within this cardboard chest?”
“No indeed,” purred Miss Kitty, “for the outside is the best.”
Designs and purchases, all nonsensical human cares—
The box is all that matters once the contents are laid bare!

A box, a box, this story’s moral is plain,
A truth all cats acknowledge, again and yet again!
A box, a box, a throne for fur and whiskers
Forevermore, a kitty shall inherit
Each and every box and fight over it with her sisters

Elijah hunted jellyfish in the pre-dawn gray
When a bolt of light shot across the stormy sky
Trees rose from the ocean, mysterious and tall
A city in their canopy, bridges threading through them all

He moored his boat and climbed the spiral stairs
Met a round-faced otter at the top who stared
"Martin!" she cried, embracing him so tight
"You made it back! Where's Little Liam? Is he all right?"

But Elijah wasn't Martin, and time had slipped away
Treegadoon skips across the years like stones across the waves
A curse cast by a phoenix with feathers made of flame
And Rosalee had lost her baby, but he'd already grown and changed

"Look at the notch on your left paw," she said through tears
"You're my son, you're my Liam, though you've lived through all these years"
Elijah didn't believe her, though his heart began to ache
For a mother who'd lost everything in the space of one long day

Treegadoon, Treegadoon,
Where time skips stones beneath the moon.
Stay one night and you belong,
To the endless echo of their song.
All who linger, all who stay,
Can never leave; only fade away.

Elijah found her husband stranded on a crescent dune of sand
He'd sailed away but still been trapped by the curse's command
They jumped from his boat, unable to leave the trees
Treegadoon had claimed them, bound by the phoenix's decree

Treegadoon, Treegadoon,
Where time skips stones beneath the moon.
Stay one night and you belong,
To the endless echo of their song.
All who linger, all who stay,
Can never leave; only fade away.
A phoenix punished cruelty with cruelty of her own
And families were shattered, children never known

But Elijah came back the next day with his adopted mothers at his side
A scientist otter, a sea lion, and prehistoric berries that shouldn't be alive
The phoenix rose from ocean foam with wings of ash and gold
"The curse is broken now," she said, "your story can be told"

"I can send you back," the phoenix offered to the son
"You'd find your baby self again, your current life would be undone"
But Elijah loved the life he'd lived, the mothers who had raised him true
And Rosalee just whispered, "I only want to know you"

So the phoenix shared the memories across the years
Four parents touched her wings and felt each other's tears
They saw through each other's eyes, remembering every day
Treegadoon rejoined the world, no longer cast away

Treegadoon, Treegadoon,
Where time skips stones beneath the moon.
Stay one night and you belong,
To the endless echo of their song.
All who linger, all who stay,
Can never leave; only fade away.

Now the city's full of twinkling lights and storm-breaking walls
Sea lions lounge on platforms, and the squirrels stand tall
Elijah hunts his jellyfish among the roots of Treegadoon
Families can be complicated, bound by love both old and new
In Treegadoon, in Treegadoon

The sky was the kind of blue that foretells a sunny day
Alivia couldn't stand it
She wanted to prance through a storm
Shake raindrops from her snowy mane and stab them with her horn

Alivia was a unicorn who loved the rain (loved the rain)
(ooh, she loved the rain)
But when the other unicorns had their way, rainclouds never came
(Rainclouds never came)

Sun-glistened on pearlescent curves
Curling locks as white as milk or ice (so bright)
Shining, shimmering, sparkling sights!
The other unicorns glared, making her think twice
(Making her think twice), whenever she dared cast a spell
To bring the rain thundering down, so she could splash and play
Ruining their sunny days, chasing the blues skies away (chase them away)
(Chase those blue skies away)

Alivia couldn't stand it
She wanted to prance through a storm (prance through a storm)
And so she stormed right off, and the beginning of her adventure was born

Oooh, ooh, ooh woah oh
Oooh, ooh, ooh woah oh

She met a turtle along the way, who'd won a race (won a race)
And a swan who all the ducks thought was strange (oh so strange)
She made new friends who understood (understood)
Why storms and rain and mud are good (oh so good)

(Storms and rain and mud)
(Stomp and splash and play)

Alivia was a unicorn who loved the rain (loved the rain)
But when the other unicorns had their way, rainclouds never came
(No rainclouds today)
So she ran away

The turtle, swan, and unicorn traveled to the ocean
And they could have sworn, it was more water
Than they'd ever seen
The greatest storm that'd ever been
And it would last and last and last
(Last and last and last)
They played in the surf, and Alivia's heart beat so fast (so fast)

She was the muddy unicorn, forevermore prancing in the storm
Mud-speckled on pearlescent curves
Tangled locks and mud-brown smears
A sandy, muddy, dirty sight!
But no one was there to glare, only her friends
And they all shared, her love of rain, to splash and play
(Splash, splash and play)
(Splash, splash and play)
The muddy unicorn pranced through the churning waves all day