The Mesozoic Tour Guide

Do not pet the dinosaurs,

Or try to feed them popcorn.

They're used to ferns and ginkgos, not

Gelatinized angiosperms.

If baby theropods warble,

It means they like your yellow dress.

Keep your arms inside at all times.

This is not a diorama.

Should that ankylosaur charge,

Poof—automatically we'll

Jump a few million years ahead

To catch the earliest birds.

Let's camp on that hill tonight,

Under younger stars. Instead

Of Orion, which won't gel till

Next eon, we'll look for Bronto.

I'll go slow, to give you a chance

For some majestic pictures. But

Where or when was that turn to see

The nesting pterodactyl pair?

Oh, forgive me. I'm distracted.

It's all because of my husband.

Fifty-six tours ago, he left

The trail to chase a dragonfly

As big as our cat. "Wonderful!"

He shouted, and disappeared

Through a strand of fiddlehead ferns.

I have not seen him since.