Rhyme of the Snail Darter
Ball, George W.
George W. Ball Rhyme of the Snail Darter An eco-cycle ofpoems. HIGH COURT BARS DAM REPRIEVING RARE FISH "Given a David and Goliath choice, the high court majority came down on the side of the...
...ODE TO THE FURBISH LOUSEWORT Stinking weed in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, I hold you in my hand-but if you could understand You would know what an imbecile man is...
...New York Times, June 18, 1978 NARROW ESCAPE Had Homo Erectus felt compelled To save endangered species We would be buried to our necks In dinosaurian feces...
...the Dickey-Lincoln hydroelectric dam in Maine, which would drown the furbish lousewort, an endangered plant...
...Because such language signified Their species' gatterdiimmerung, They swam upstream and died...
...The decision clouds the future of 11 other major projects, including the space shuttle, which might damage the habitat of the brown pelican and peregrine falcon...
...APOSTROPHE Hail to thee, blithe lousewort...
...He is now senior managing director of Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, Inc., in New York City...
...The little fish were all unstrung...
...Ball served as Undersecretary of State from 1961 to 1966, and was the United States Permanent Representative to the UN in 1968...
...SUMMATION Large herds of whales which to the trade are commonly called "gams" Are now denied to eskimos by decree of Uncle Sam's With the snails now darting gaily, a louse wort' a dozen dams, I watch it all with mounting gall and a sharp pain in the hams...
...the beaver said to Uncle Sam...
...HIGH COURT BARS DAM REPRIEVING RARE FISH "Given a David and Goliath choice, the high court majority came down on the side of the snail darter, a three inch variety of perch with a single remote habitat, thus rejecting the mighty Tennessee Valley Authority and the 30-mile reservoir it has been planning behind its virtually complete Tellico Dam...
...For your singular feat of existence In the depths and the dark of the crannies By defeating man's prideful persistence Throws the dam-building types on their fannies...
...There's a stupid furbish lousewort that is holding up my dam, I could make a modest living by the rules of fang and claw, But I'm slowed down to a snail's pace by that snail darter in law...
...SUPREME COURT TO THE RESCUE Wee, cowering snail darter You won't be another martyr To the impotence of Carter For the Court with all its power Will protect each fish and flower From the ultimate damnation Caused by power dam escalation As our shrinking oil ration Terrifies the whole damn nation...
...offshore oil drilling, which threatens the bowhead whale, and phosphate mining in a Florida preserve that harbors several endangered species...
...COMPLAINT OF THE EAGER BEAVER "Can't your bureaucrats move faster...
...PARABLE OF THE LOAFERS AND FISHES "We've gotter dam the stream and take The waters for a mighty lake...
...The whole problem could, of course, be resolved by one comprehensive gastronomic evening: Menu of a dinner to be given by the constructionists of the Corps of Engineers for the strict constructionists of the Supreme Court and the obstructionists of the Sierra Club HORS D'OEUVRE Oeufs de cigogne houppementfargis au toxote escargot Toxote escargot sur canape'de nageoire caudale De baleine franche ENTREES Terrine de baleinefranche et hareng (commonly known as "His blubber's kipper") Pelican brun braise Fricassee defaucon pjlerin aux marrons...
...ECOLOGICAL LIMERICK Some exiguous fish called snail darters George WI...
...Made a name for themselves as dam thwarters With a furbish lousewort (a mere vegetable sport) They rendered dam projects non-starters...
...Bird thou never wert But a noisome little weed Of the most peculiar sort...
Vol. 12 • January 1979 • No. 1
