It wasn’t the first time.
He’d caught lizards in the wild before.
Patiently stalking.
Carefully handling.
Expertly studying.
Admiring the creature
before returning it to nature.
Goodbye.
No, it wasn’t the first,
Nor will it be the last.
~~~-~~~~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-
This Trifecta entry was inspired by my older son, who’s quite the nature child. I can’t tell you how many insects I’ve found in baggies, snap-top plastic dishes and water bottles. My mantra has become “ask first before opening.” 🙂 We’re fresh off a weekend camping trip, which provided the pictures for this poem. An added bonus? I doubt there are going to be many (any?) other lizard poems for the Trifecta weekend writing challenge, which is:
“Complete the following story in 33 words: ‘It wasn’t the first time.’ (The five words are not to be included in your 33 words)”
If you want to submit your own entry, check out the Trifecta website (by clicking on the tricycle picture) to see complete information.
JannaTWrites 
I’ve caught a few wild creatures in my time, stumbled around in the woods, and splashed in the creeks. It was a great time to be alive. Tell him to go, go, go.
Tim
Those are all things little boys love to do. I used to catch horned toads, frogs and grasshoppers, but I lost that talent somehow 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Tim!
Used to catch them all the time. They are a little too fast for me now. Another thing: 75 pounds weighs twice as much as it did 30 years ago. Must be that global warming thing.
You’re funny, Carl! I weigh more than I did fifteen years ago. I thought it was my chocolate consumption, but maybe it’s because of global warming 🙂
This is a beautiful description of childhood’s wonder. A lizard must be examined, of course!
Thanks for stopping by, Brenda. Yes, he does love to catch lizards. He names a few of them and wishes he could keep them. He does relent and let them go when I explain that their mommies will be sad if they don’t come home.
Nice poem and pics. We caught a lizard in the living room yesterday . . . we released it PRONTO. 😀
I’m glad you released it, Nancy. I like lizards just fine – as long as they are outside 🙂
Lizards … am not a big fan but your words … they are so beautifully knitted … next time I might view them a little more royally.
My mom isn’t a fan of lizards, either, Ruby. (She’s actually terrified of them). I can admire their beauty – outside 🙂 Thanks for visiting!
That’s the kind of boy I am hoping to raise. Unfortunately, mine is more the “run shrieking from gnats” sort. At least right now, at three years old.
Sweet little poem, Janna!
Boys are interesting creatures, Christine. Bees make my older son squeal like a girl (like me!) but yet he would dig for scorpions in the playground sand at school. (Thank goodness he never found one.) Three years old is still young, so there’s a good chance you might have a creature hunter in the making. Good luck! (And if he does get into creature hunting, hide the Ziploc baggies…trust me!)
That’s pretty awesome, as I’d imagine lizards to be pretty hard to catch. When I was younger, I’d dig up worms and play with them, and even use them as fish bait. But now, older and maybe not-so-much wiser, I’m too squeamish to hold anything of the sort. What a nice way to capture your boy’s love of what nature has to offer!
I never could catch lizards, Sandra. He caught his first lizard nearly two years ago. I kept telling him the lizards were too fast, but he wouldn’t give up. An hour and a half later, he caught one. I’m fairly sure it was just to prove me wrong 🙂 Tomorrow, I’m posting a slide show of other forest-dwelling creatures they found.
I know what you mean about growing up/out of handling certain things. I used to catch frogs but I’m not sure I could hold one today. Oh well, we can watch from a distance, right?
So sweet. I like the poem structure. My cats catch lizards all the time, but the kids and I are far too slow to grab ’em. Now frogs and newts, those are easy to grab, look at and put back.
Thanks, Latitudes of a Day. I used to love catching frogs as a child, but there are none to be had here in the desert. I appreciate you stopping by to read my poem!
Well, at least he managed to let it keep its tail. That’s always the saddest and grossest part about lizard wrangling to me.
He’s only had one lose its talil, and that was freaky because the tail still moved even even without the body. Ew! Thanks for stopping by, ODNT!
I enjoyed the way you capture the curiosity and the fascination in this piece.
Thanks for reading Weissdorn! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
That sounds like it might Coe from your own son! As to mine about the comet, I actually stole that off of his real homework:)
That’s funny that he wrote that on his homework, Sandra. He should get points for honesty 🙂 My kids inspire different kinds of writing. A couple years ago, I wrote a poem about my older son stalking butterflies. He couldn’t catch those, though!
I’m impressed with the intact tail too. That takes great skill.
It is so gross when the tail comes off, Tara. I’m so glad it only happened once!
this reminds me of my brothers when they were little, though frogs and crayfish (and the occasional bee!) were they catches. of course, when it came to the garden snakes and spiders, it was left up to me haha
Oooh, snakes would be something I wouldn’t be any good for capturing. You must’ve been a tough one, Renada!
Nice structure and flow to this piece. I can picture him out in the wild, lying in wait.
Thanks for linking up. Please come back tomorrow for the new prompt.
Thanks for the prompt and reading the response!
Send that boy down my way to catch these darn lizards that run all around my deck and porch. GAWD those things give me the creeps!!!!
That’s funny! He would love to take care of your lizard problem. As for me, I’m okay with reptiles as long as they have legs 🙂
It’s not easy to catch a lizard.
No, Newwhitebear, it is not easy to catch a lizard before it sheds its tail. Thanks for visiting 🙂
So much of a childs adventurous life here – well done.
Anna :o] at http://puzzelicious.blogspot.com
Thanks for checking out my poem, Anna!
You’ve described a boy so well! And some girls, even! That would be a perfect post for an art journal or scrapbook page.
Thanks, Patti! If I had scrapbooking talent, I bet it would make a fun page 🙂
Cool kid – great mom. Terrific story!
(trying to stay in word limit for post praise)
Aw, thanks, Phil! He is a sweet boy (though he blushes when I tell him so :)) I appreciate your visit!