Aerodynamics

The turtle has no wings to flap
Or dulcet voice to sing and rap
And yet if one were meant to race
This paradox would set the pace.

We cannot hide our hands and feet
Nor draw our heads in half so neat.

The ways of Nature contemplate
And thus our shells we simulate,
Direct the flow of air with care,
While turtles plod with time to spare.

[Undated poem by Virginia McKinnon Mann.]