SEP 1, mammalian wildlife: upsetting gnus

Authors' Note: Two major species of gnu (genus Connochaetes) are found in Africa — the black wildebeest (C. gnou) and the blue wildebeest (C. taurinus). The blue species is somewhat larger, and their horns are of different configuration; other differences are minor. The two species overlap in their range, but there is no other recorded instance of animosity or prejudice deriving from these differentiating traits.

This verse, with a completely apocryphal story, was inspired by Workshop's depressing, a brief poem published at OEDILF, the online collaborative poetry site ending with the phrase "really terrible gnus".

DOGGEREL-WRITING

A doggerel-writer, a keener,

By mean peers was judged coarse and obscener:

("From this site, you are banished!")

Wrote some winners, then vanished —

He'd committed a gross misdemeanour.

Here's our hope: We'll now cope, much serener.

Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2023

Authors' Note:  We are talking here about an open-forum collaborative website, so  the reader will realize that there are only a few opportunities for misdemeanourship. A major one was apparently undertaken by the prolific writer in question, but he did leave behind some great five-liners, including this author's favorite — (originally published under the title 'depressing'). 

WORKING AT ZOOS

The work is depressing at zoos,
So I often go home with the blues.
And it's getting more bleak;
For example, last week,
We received really terrible gnus.

 Workshop