Klokan the Blue Kangaroo (Poem)

Klokan the Blue Kangaroo

Little Klokan, the Blue Kangaroo,
Lived alone in a European Zoo:
Like sad Cinderella
Klokan had no fella –
So of course little Klokan was blue!

So Zoo Management brought a Red ’Roo
(for they knew female Red ’Roos are Blue)
There were hopes they’d be mated:
Zoo management waited
To see what the two ’Roos would do.

But the old man Red ’Roo didn’t thrill her,
And certainly didn’t fulfil her;
In fact (it was said)
Klokan treated Big Red
As you might treat a Chimp, or Gorilla!

So they brought her a next, then another,
Then a Grey Kangaroo, then his brother:
She was always polite,
But they weren’t ‘Mr Right’
So it seemed that she’d never be ‘Mother’.

There were fears little Klokan was sick:
Was she troubled by Fleas, or a Tick?
Perhaps she had Scabies,
Or – God forbid – Rabies!
So they called for some Vets to come quick.

So the European Animal Bureau
Checked her fur with a lens to make sure: “OH!
Klokan!” they said,
“You’re not Grey, Blue, nor Red! –
Though you’re true-blue Australian, you’re a EURO!”

Then they found little Klokan a mate straight away!
His rich silver-blue fur shamed plain Red and Grey,
And with manners disarming,
He was Klokan’s Prince Charming,
And there’s Joeys abounding today!

So by now Klokan’s fame has spread far and wide
All Europeans love her, and to show her their pride,
They found a great way to heap tribute upon her –
Now all Europe’s currency’s named in her honour!

So when you go to Europe, as one day you may,
There’s no Dollars, Marks, Francs, Pounds, nor Pesos to pay:
In clubs, shops and restaurants, and all Travel Bureaux,
Everything’s value is reckoned in Euros!

This is an abbreviated version, for performance purposes. The complete poem is 5 full pages, and takes Klokan from orphaned joey in Australia, to Prague, then All-Around-The-World meeting animals, and eventually back to her Prague Zoo home, which is where the last two stanzas in this version ends up. Anthropomorphic, yes indeed, but if as I have you have had the joy and pain of helping raise Euro joeys, you’ll know why. The Euro, macropus robustus, also known as the Wallaroo, is by the way the third-largest macropod, nearly as tall as Greys but heavier- built and much more thickly furred. Races of Euros are found everywhere in mainland Australia. Bruce Bilney