When Nature Gives You Porcupines

A porcupine, when threatened, will
Let loose upon his foe a quill
Or actually, I have a hunch
That he’d release a giant bunch.

I always knew about that use
But never knew that a papoose
Could find what every baby needs
Where quills are used instead of beads.

Yes, cradleboards and moccasins
And shirts or cloaks made out of skins
Were gussied up with filed-down quills
By Indians with awesome skills.

A new exhibit at the Met*
Has beadwork that I won’t forget
By Natives living on the Plains
Where porcupines shared their domains.

Or that is what I must assume
For every ornament and plume
They used to sew with (all by hand)
Was found nearby on native land.

That’s how it was in times gone by;
The local life could satisfy.
Those Indians, now mostly gone,
Today’d rely on Amazon!

*Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC