As I was walking through the park, I saw in front of me,
A weathered shell of what had been a really nice RV
The owner had been proud of it and treated it with care.
But when he died the others had just left it sitting there.

It had a lifetime warranty, for these types always do
But when the owner died, it seems the warranty died too.
How many miles it had on it, no one will ever know.
The owner had been careful; when he traveled he went slow.

A 4X4 it had to be, avoiding public roads.
He always traveled lightly, never hauling heavy loads.
It was very fuel-efficient. Its maintenance had been cheap.
It never needed painting and no money for upkeep.

There were no floats or pontoons, though it could go on water.
Where he went, he went alone, no room for son or daughter.
With many years of travel, going over hill and dell,
How sad to see it lying there, that little turtle shell.

While I was still in the Air Force, one of my bosses was getting ready to retire. One day I asked him what he wanted the office to get him as a retirement gift. He jokingly said that he really needed a recreational vehicle to carry out his retirement dreams. I had picked up an old turtle shell the last time that I was home to visit our ranch in Texas, and had brought it back for the kids. It gave me an idea for a neat gag gift. I put it in a box with a note claiming that the box contained one slightly used RV. I enclosed a list of attributes; one owner, low mileage, fuel efficient, 4×4, etc. The other day, when I came upon another turtle shell, I decided that it would make a cute poem.

When you read RV, did you guess right away what the RV was?