Yertle the Turtle

Today after watching King Shrub on TV, during lunch, I was immediately reminded of a poem by Dr. Suess titled Yertle the Turtle, which symbolizes, for me, the current American Imperium and its bloated ambitions of Empire.

I obtained several beautiful hardbound copies of the good doctor's books recently, at a Florida thrift store, which included Yertle the Turtle and then proceeded to read some of them to Connie, curled up on a couch. A very romantic evening indeed for me, sharing the canon of Suess with the one you love. What could possibly be better?

On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.

They were... until Yertle, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
"I'm ruler", said Yertle, "of all that I see.
But I don't see enough.
That's the trouble with me.
With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"

You'll love the ending. It will be ours too.