The Poem 'The Newcomer' written by Brian Patten

 The Poem 'The Newcomer' written by Brian Patten

‘There’s something new in the river,’  

The fish said as it swam—  

‘It’s got no scales, no fins, and no gills,  

And ignores the impassable dam.’

‘There’s something new in the trees,’  

I heard a bloated thrush sing,  

‘It’s got no beak, no claws, and no feathers,  

And not even the ghost of a wing.’

‘There’s something new in the warren,’  

Said the rabbit to the doe.  

‘It’s got no fur, no eyes, and no paws,  

Yet digs deeper than we dare go.’

There’s something new in the whiteness,’  

Said the snow-bright polar bear.  

‘I saw its shadow on a glacier,  

But it left no pawmarks there'.

Through the animal kingdom  

The news was spreading fast—  

No beak, no claws, no feather,  

No scales, no fur, no gills,  

It lives in the trees and the water,  

In the soil and the snow and the hills,  

And it kills and it kills and it kills.

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https://www.grammaracademyzone.com/2025/04/poem-newcomer-by-brian-patten.html