Sacerdotal Advice

The shaman said the caiman wouldn't bite,
And any layman could approach the beast
As long as we kept strictly to the east
So that the daemon, with the morning light
Bright in his eyes and lessening his sight,
Would see only the sun. True, said the priest,
I've seen it work. So Eamonn, now deceased,
Crept slowly to the shore. There was no fight.

These people will say anything they like
About whatever mysteries they choose,
Occasionally things that you can use
To entertain in style, or catch a shrike,
But mostly they're as much use as a spike
In soda water, or drunk kangaroos.