Page:Tortoises, DH Lawrence, 1921.djvu/35

 Rh She does not even know she is nipping me with her curved beak. Snake-like she draws at my finger, while I drag it in horror away.

Mistress, reptile mistress, You are almost too large, I am almost frightened.

He is much smaller, Dapper beside her, And ridiculously small.

Her laconic eye has an earthy, materialistic look, His, poor darling, is almost fiery.

His wimple, his blunt-prowed face, His low forehead, his skinny neck, his long, scaled, striving legs, So striving, striving, Are all more delicate than she, And he has a cruel scar on his shell.

Poor darling, biting at her feet, Running beside her like a dog, biting her earthy, splay feet, Rh