Turtle:

Crust-encased, armour-braced,

so geometrical,

your contrast lines symmetrical.

Descendant of a dinosaur,

survivor of the fitness war.

Lizard-like you raise your head

and test the air for what you dread.

On land, slowed by your hard shell tent;

but water is your element

-you flash by in the cool pond, free,

unburdened now by gravity.