"Peek-a-Boo, I can't see you,
Everything must be grand!
Boo-ka-Pee, they can't see me,
As long as I've got me head in the sand!
Peek-a-Boo, it may be true,
There's something in what you've said;
But we've got enough troubles in everyday life,
I just bury me head!"
"Oh, Ostrich consider how the world we know
Is trembling on the brink;
Have you heard the news? May I hear your views?
Will you tell me what you think?"
The Ostrich lifted his head from the sand about an inch or so;
"You will please excuse, but disturbing news
I have no wish to know!
Oooh, Peek-a-Boo, I can't see you,
Everything must be grand!
Boo-ka-Pee, they can't see me,
As long as I've got me head in the sand!
Peek-a-Boo, it may be true,
There's something in what you've said;
But we've got enough troubles in everyday life,
I just bury me head!"
Then I noticed suddenly where we were,
I saw what time it was!
"Make haste", I said, "it'll be too late,
We must leave this place because..."
He stuffed his wingtips into his ears;
He would not hear me speak,
And back in the soft Saharan sand
He plunged his yellow beak.
"Oooh, Peek-a-Boo, I can't see you,
Everything must be grand!
Boo-ka-Pee, they can't see me,
As long as I've got me head in the sand!
Peek-a-Boo, it may be true,
There's something in what you've said;
But we've got enough troubles in everyday life,
I just bury me...!"
From a sheltered oasis a mile away
I observed that dreadful scene.
And a single plume came floating down
Where my Ostrich friend had been.
Because he could not bear the sound
Of these words I had left unsaid;
"...here in this nuclear-testing ground
Is no place to bury your head!"