not the yertle you remember

Did you see the darling little turtle called "Taco" over at Cute Overload today? He seems to come when he is called, and crawls onto the hands of people who love him. Or her. How do you tell? The clip reminded me of how much I rather like looking at turtles, and Yertle the Turtle, and that great Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Yertle the Turtle." (I practised burping like Anthony Kiedis.)

So I thought, perhaps there must be other interesting turtle creativity? I did find some - in a most unexpected way.

I stumbled upon the Chelonian Research Foundation, "a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 for the production, publication, and support of worldwide turtle and tortoise research, with an emphasis on the scientific basis of chelonian diversity and conservation biology." So this is a scientific society with many goals concerning the wellbeing and understanding of turtles and tortoises. But - as is only right when appreciating the full compass of a living being - they also write turtle poetry.

The Chelonian Research Foundation rocks for writing turtle poetry.
Read it here. (I'm partial to Taylor Edwards' Agua de Beber.)