Dinosaur Poems

"Arggg I'm a Bagaceratops 

Not very big

I come up to your socks

Me eating you is not of concern I'm a herbivore

I only eat ferns"

-"The Bagaceratops", Zachary Alcus

The easiest way to analyze this masterpiece will be to break it down line-by-line, finding the deep meaning behind each individual piece of the brilliance. Together they form an awe-inspiring whole, but separately, we can see the true genius that is Prof. Alcus's mind.

"Arggg I'm a Bagaceratops"
The Bagaceratops is, in fact, a real dinosaur. The true brilliance behind this line is it's ability to make the reader think that it is a fantastic creature, created for the purpose of the work. Combined with the use of the term "arggg", he creates an atmosphere of uncertainty. A feeling of both wonder and fear. What is this Bagaceratops? What does it do? Many questions are left unanswered within the poem, reflecting life itself and the way one might never know his own destiny.

"Not very big"
Here, we get our first indication of the stature of the Bagaceratops, which is key to the main theme of the piece. There are many different interpretations that could be made from this line. Is it a plea for help? A small cry of this creature, suffering from an acute inferiority complex? It could also be construed as a boast, a way of saying that although small, the Bagaceratops still considers itself quite powerful, which is reinforced by its mighty roar at the beginning of the poem. There's also the possibility that Alcus is once again introducing a metaphor on the life of a human being, saying that, like the Bagaceratops, we are also not as powerful as we may think.

"I come up to your socks"
This line is a major turning point in the epic tale of the Bagaceratops. Being a dinosaur, the Bagaceratops would have, naturally, lived millions of years ago. And yet here, it makes reference to a modern-day technology, that of socks. Could this possibly mean that the poem is the lament of a tormented creature, revived by scientists to bend to their will? Perhaps Alcus intended it as a satire of the Jurassic Park series, reversing the roles of the flawed but largely benevolent scientists and the thoughtless, killing dinosaurs. It may be Alcus showing us that although we may not see it ourselves, animals may have just as much sentience as ourselves, and we often forget this.

"Me eating you is not of concern I'm a herbivore"
At this point, we are further confronted with the humanity of the Bagaceratops. Alcus obviously constructed the grammar poorly deliberately, to reflect the juvenile nature of the poor creature. It is highly likely that the Bagaceratops is a child of it's species, not knowing what to do in this world it has just been brought into. These two small facts about itself seem to be things that it has overheard the scientists saying, and it mindlessly parrots them back, being all that it knows. The words seemed to be the scientists reassuring themselves, saying that the dinosaur can't turn on them, for it only eats plants.

"I only eat ferns"
After this line, the poem abruptly cuts off, possibly symbolizing the death of the Bagaceratops, or possibly the loss of its own sentience by use of machines. Where does life go on from here? We are never told. We may never know the true story of the Bagaceratops, this analysis only being the tip of the iceberg that is the genius of this work.

Join us next week when we'll be discussing the deep homoerotic undertones of Jack and the Beanstalk.*

*Not really