“Shellshocked!  Riddle of tortoise missing for 2 years
 who turned up at owner’s old house … even though
 he never lived there”          Daily Mail, 4th July 2017
 
 
Arnie the tortoise went missing
two years ago today.
He got fed up with where he lived
and decided not to stay.
 
He didn’t want to hibernate,
so legged it through the garden gate
and set off down the Shropshire
country lanes.
He set his course, and went due north,
and was never seen again.
 
He didn’t like the high life,
or he might have thought to go
to see the lights, and such delights
on offer in Ludlow.
 
In retrospect, it was probably best
as there’s really no denying
a tortoise wouldn’t have stood the test
of crossing the A49.
 
Instead he made his ponderous way
to Hopton Cangeford where,
his owners used to own a house
(tho’ Arnie’d not lived there)
 
But an old friend who remembered them
and who knew of their sad reflecting,
rang up to say that he’s okay
and could they come and collect him?
 
Arnie the tortoise had arrived,
two miles north and two years on
at tortoise speed, now he’s aggrieved
to be back where he started - at Middleton.