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Don Mulford

The Camel

Can you describe a camel? It’s quite simple, you might think.
It’s just an awkward quadruped which seldom needs a drink!
It has a long, curvaceous neck, a hump or two for water,
And broad, flat feet to walk on sand, thin legs which could be shorter.
It has a very haughty look, both sneering and disdainful,
And if perchance it nips at you, it’s bite is rather painful.

It comes in two varieties, the one humped and the two.
“But what’s the difference?” You might ask, so I’ll explain to you.
The one humped is the dromedary; Arabs like it best.
Long caravans through desert sand will put it to the test.
The two humped is the bactrian, the Asian type of beast,
With longer hair and shorter legs, it minds the cold the least.

But surely humps and hair and legs don’t matter much to you.
You probably won’t see their homes, you’ll see them at the zoo.
What you would like is something brief describing this poor creature;
Some reason for the camel’s plight, but no specific feature.
So here’s someone’s description which is both concise and witty--
A camel’s really just a horse, designed by a committee!