Chariots of War

Chariots of war
Were known in Ancient Rome
As cars

And ducks’re called duck
Because they duck
And honcks are so-called for their call

As foxes — who’ll stalk
In stalks of phlox, in flux,
And flax and scratch their backs
And sit and crack
Their nuts and snack
Owe their name to their thick tails

And caterpillars they’ve got jaws
but butterflies do not —
They lost those
In the course of metamorphosis —

Sure, they can fly
But there’s always a tradeoff
They’re restricted to a liquid diet

Poking their proboscises in oranges
And yellows, reds —
How else can they stay so trim?

Flashing here and there
As rare as gems