An Ode(r) to Sheep

Oh, mighty Sheep, who live in a barn

Your fleece can be used to make wonderful yarn

You are important, oh mighty Sheep

As you are counted we drift off to sleep

Oh mighty Sheep, we love your wool

Fiber this fabulous won't come from a bull

Your roots in our history run quite deep

We owe much to you, oh mighty Sheep

You are a beast that is often ignored

At the mention of "sheep", most become bored

Your popularity is now a bit less slight

After you recently managed to stop a flight

Interest was piqued when we received word

That trouble was caused by some of the herd

You caused a fiasco, oh mighty Sheep 

When you were packed on a plane, two thousand deep

It must have been miserable down in the hold

But you got your vengeance a hundredfold

The pilots and crew met with some trouble

When the airplane filled with your methane bubble

Oh, mighty sheep, you don't smell like roses

Your odor began assaulting their noses

In midair, with nowhere to run

They had to endure the deed that was done

In distress, the flight was grounded

As fire alarms and warnings sounded

Oh, mighty Sheep, as you flew through the sky

Did you laugh while you made the pilots cry?

The air was cleared and the flight resumed

But the crew had already been properly fumed

It must not be fun transporting sheep

The smell is quite bad, and the -ahem- gets deep.

Oh, mighty Sheep, may your conditions be checked

And you treated with much more respect

For your wool is so loved among the fiber arts

That we can forgive your smelly farts

  For those of you who haven't heard, quite a debacle was caused recently by some sheep on a cargo plane. In transport from Australia to Malaysia, the 2,000+ sheep packed in the cargo hold managed to ground the flight due to an excess of methane gas. The beasts released so much manure and flatulence that the gases set off the fire alarms. I found a report of the incident here. Apparently, after airing out the aircraft for two and a half hours, the flight was able to resume.

  In closing, I'd like to add that over 2,000 sheep on a plane seems extreme, even if they were lambs instead of full-grown sheep. If they were full-grown sheep, then holy cow! I mean... Sheep! No wonder the flight was grounded. Being unable to find an example of how packed in they were, I can't condemn these people. Who knows? Maybe the sheep had plenty of room. But when your flight is being grounded due to sheep farts, perhaps that's too many.

Happy Crocheting!