'There's something new in the river,' <br />The fish said as it swam. <br />'It's got no scales, no fins and no gills, <br />And ignores the impassable dam.' <br /> <br />'There's something new in the trees.' <br />I heard a bloated thrush sing. <br />'It's got no beak, no claws, and no feathers, <br />And not even the ghost of a wing.' <br /> <br />'There's something new in the warren,' <br />Said the rabbit to the doe. <br />'It's got no fur, no eyes and no paws, <br />Yet digs further than we dare go.' <br /> <br />'There's something new in the whiteness,' <br />Said the snow-bright polar bear. <br />'I saw its shadow on a glacier, <br />But it left no pawmarks there.' <br /> <br />Through the animal kingdom <br />The news was spreading fast. <br />No beak, no claws, no feather, <br />No scales, no fur, no gills, <br />It lives in the trees and the water, <br />In the soil and the snow and the hills, <br />And it kills and it kills and it kills.<br /><br />Brian Patten<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-newcomer/
