Fossil hunting and poetry

This morning saw our holiday take a stop off at the Jurassic coast as fossil hunting was on our mind ( I harboured a dream of being an archaeologist when I was young) but how times change as the many signs tell you it seems you can look but not touch when it comes to these elusive objects. So I was quite surprised as we strolled round Budleigh Salterton that with all the protection given to the vast amount of heritage lying at our feet that several shops sold the elusive fossils you were not supposed to pick up, how does that work ?

Anyway I digress and here comes the laboured metaphor , sometimes poems are as hard to come by as fossils and sometimes even after you’ve found them its better to put them back than tart them up and try and flog them to unsuspecting visitors.

Never being one to follow my own advice here’s a poem inspired by fossils.

Fossils

Buried away from the sun
Hidden from the light
Lie my unfinished poems
Out of mind and out of sight.

Until the poet’s neediness
Outweighs his ideals
And he digs up a fossil
Surely it’s no big deal ?

Tart it up with a photo
On the blog stick it
No one will guess
It was once rubbish.

And that your poetic fossil
Was better left unfound.
Left for another day
Safe in the ground.