Pre-historic birds would fear modern cats,
organized ideally for early flight,
their fear defenses were not yet exact.
Now hunters are elegant acrobats,
meticulous in both stalk and attack.
Pre-historic birds would fear modern cats.
Dragons do not fear, with this caveat:
professional and imaginary,
their fear defenses were not yet exact.
Mouse-deer tell stories of crocs on mudflats
and other things, but tell a simple tale;
pre-historic birds would fear modern cats.
A time-vortex sending a pirate back
to the past would learn, of pterodactyls,
their fear defenses were not yet exact.
Creators will create and thinkers think
doers do, always learning from the past:
pre-historic birds would fear modern cats,
their fear defenses are not yet exact.
—
Clive Tern lives in rural Scotland where he cares for his wife and three children. His fiction has appeared in Page & Spine and Word Riot. He is also a member of the First Reader team at Spark: A Creative Anthology.