Page 97 - Plucky Lads

The Old Observatory

Through the noise it somehow reached their ears:
They leapt to their feet without switching gears
And nabbed me as I tried to limp away—
Their breath like rotten shrimp upon me lay

More unpleasantly than their pincered hands,
Gripping me as tightly as cold steel bands;

Had I struggled or fainted at that point,
It would have severed my limbs at the joint.

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