How to learn a turtle

How to learn a turtle

for Curtis and Maggie

How do you learn a turtle?
How do you learn a snake?

Don't look in books
Don't look at pictures

Just pick up one

To learn a turtle
To learn a snake
To really learn in a way that lasts
You must look to where it lives
Watch it there
Study it

Really look to what turtle does
Really look to what snake does
Seek it out
Catch it
Put it in a pen or box or jar
Just for a little bit

Then release turtle
Then release snake
Back where you found it next to some water
Next to some tall grass
And watch it swim away
And watch it slither away
Watch it sink out of sight
Watch it disappear

Why do all this?

To care about turtle
To care about snake
Like nobody else