All Creatures Great and Small

An Italian poet once wrote
that he had talked to a goat.
It  may’ve been an act of note
but it will not get my vote.

It’s not a deed that I belittle
but to me it seems a tittle.
When I think of Dr. Doolittle
can I remain noncommittal?

It was more than one animal
he spoke to and it was normal
for him to deal with a mammal
in a manner that was informal.

Among the beasts were those
who tended to be lachrymose
and the ones who were jocose;
every one of them was verbose.

What about Francis, the saint,
who was a holy man but quaint.
He dealt  without constraint
with  every birds’ complaint.

He always travelled on his tod
and you might find it rather odd
but he preached the word of God
to fish that might just've been cod.

So these two men could gloat
they’d spoken not only to a goat
but also to a stoat and a shoat,
the ruminant being a wee footnote.

© Luigi Pagano 2015