Today I Fell Off An Ostrich
(Outshoorn, South Africa, 16/1/1973)
Today I fell off an ostrich,
And I feel quite remarkably glad.
It's a thing to recall when there's nothing at all
So opportunistically mad.
You may say you can't fall off an ostrich,
Where can you find an ostrich, you'll say.
And I know you'll be right, 'cos they're quite out of sight
On the average sort of a day.
But today, I fell off an ostrich,
You can tell from the damage incurred.
And though the abrasions will fade, the occasion's
Indelibly on me conferred.
Yes, I actually fell off an ostrich!
And nobody else did at all!
They sat unbelieving while I was receiving
The dust and the bump of the fall.
You may say that a fall from an ostrich
Is much like from all sorts of mounts.
But to fall, don't you see, you must ride previously,
And the fact that I rode it's what counts!
I took off on holiday across vast areas of South Africa in my VW Beetle. At Outshoorn, in Cape Province, I joined a group of tourists going round the famous ostrich farms. When we were asked to imitate the guides and ride an ostrich, I was the only one who dared. You were supposed to fall off, but I didn't until the guides got bored at how well I was doing, and tripped the bird up!
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