Easy Peelers, by Gillian Southgate

Here is Gillian Southgate's winning entry for the literary competition published in the July issue of The Oldie. The subject set was "Easy Peelers"

Salome shed her seven veils (a slow seduction never fails)

And Mata Hari’s sultry shape peeled elegantly, like a grape.

But Mother Nature shows the way in putting on the best display.

The snake is a commanding case; it sheds its skin with easy grace;

The caterpillar does the same. The dragonfly of river fame

Presents a stained glass window wing. The frog and lizard also fling

Their skins away, and look like new; the grasshopper can do it too.

 The red deer buck casts off his coat and opens his imperious throat,

The maple with its paperbark will grace the meanest public park.

 The willow strips, the eucalypts peel off without a hint of fuss,

Quite different from the rest of us. Except for politicians.

They appear to do it every day.