The Weary Wee Flipperling

On a trip to Brookfield Zoo this summer we saw this little fellow sunbathing. He was rather oafish on the rock, but then he would slide into the water and become the picture of grace and ease. Every seal reminds me of a wonderful Rudyard Kipling poem (and if you read this blog last December you know that I am fond of Ol' Rud).

And the poem goes like this:


SEAL LULLABY

"OH! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us
At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow;
Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas."


--Rudyard Kipling