“A manatee am I,” he said
in voice quite deep and gloom
“I’ve nothing at all to do,” he groaned
“but float here to await my doom
I’ve lived so long” he sighed
“in these shallow waters,
I can barely move! I know, I’ve tried,
and so I float here” he softly whimpered
“I am the saddest of God’s creations
Unruly, fat, and gray.
So I sing my lamentations,
and wish that I could move away.
Alas dear reader! I must leave,
for a ship’s propeller I see
I hope that when it takes its leave
a fatal blow it will strike me
so that I may return to the sea
as anything but a lowly Manatee”