The pelican watched and he waited as Roy and Mal gutted their catch.
It wasn’t the scraps it was after, he wanted the best of the batch.
He planned his attack to perfection and caught Roy and Mal unaware,
he lunged at the fish they were cleaning and stole the biggest one there.

“Tackle the mongrel!” Roy shouted, “Get it yourself” Mal replied,
and with that the pelican bolted with Roy closing in at it’s side.
The pelican ran for the water, dodging his way through the crowd,
Roy threw the greatest of tackles, that would make Wally Lewis feel proud.

He grabbed the pelican by the neck, just as it tried to take flight,
and held it strong in a wrestling hold, but the pelican put up a fight.
Roy held on to the pelican, the pelican held on to the bream.
They fought like a pair of prize fighters and neither would ever give in.

By this time the crowd had all gathered, and were placing their bets on the side.
Roy was a ten to one favorite, and nobody read the form guide.
The pelican tossed and it tumbled but held the fish firm in it’s bill,
while Roy was gaining momentum to finally move in for the kill.

With one arm, he maintained a headlock the other he grabbed for the snout.
If he shook it real hard for a moment, the fish would surely drop out.
But the pelican finally relented, the fight was all over for him
and with that he turned his head sideways, and casually swallowed the bream.

Even though Roy won the battle the pelican finished all right.
He still got the fish he was after and put up a hell of a fight.
May this be a lesson to anglers, be careful, when you clean your catch
there’s always a pelican waiting to pounce on the best of the batch.

Copyright © M C Lyons