Attribution: Tomas Castelazo
Image: An American Crocodile
Source: Wikimedia Commons (here)
An anachronism
of the dinosaur period
Insisting in maintaining
its peculiar appearance
which had not changed
A crocodile a lethal
fighting machine
Bulky and unwieldy
Depended on stealth
In hunting for its booty
Its hunting grounds
pools of water dark and murky
Priming itself just below the surface
Eyes nonchalantly darting
barely unseen
An unlucky calf
Stooped to take a drink
Jaws snapped
On soft thigh muscles
Rolled and whirled
In the water
It never stood a chance
It never stood a chance
Written for d'Verse OpenLinkNight week #107
eeep...those and the gators def...one almost got my cat a few years ago...it bore the scars on its legs 10 years before passing last christmas...
ReplyDeleteWas a lucky cat to be alive
DeleteStreaks of Pat's Cat to jive
Had its day
Had its way
Ten years more of the 9 lives
Hank
Those things are scary, them and sharks have been around longer than most anything besides bugs, so they know how to adapt and bite your leg off
ReplyDeletesuch a sad ending :(
ReplyDeleteFancy HOV Ridin’
Oh crocodiles need respect...I remember being up North and being so worried about being close to the edge of the water wondering if one was lurking just below the surface. They certainly know how to survive. :)
ReplyDeleteCrocodiles really scare me. So sad about the calf....really. I know it is the cycle of life, but still.
ReplyDeletePerhaps more lies under the surface of your poem. Old predators and old predator behavior lurks in the mind and intents in many, hiding at the edge of a schoolground, on a harmless front porch, an ice cream truck. Caveats abound more than the dog, and the buyer, but the stranger who brings evil.
ReplyDeleteWell done, scary and sad at the end but still so well told.
ReplyDeleteHope I'm never near one. Your story is testimony to survival of the strongest. Well written.
ReplyDeleteHi Hank..
ReplyDeleteThe 2-legged kind (read: buaya darat) also pretty scary..
Where I grew up on the river the water lover I was my grandmother told me if dared to stick my finger in the river water the alligator would bite it off. Somehow I still believe that at times at the river where the 12 FT Alligators swim..
ReplyDeleteCrocodiles are magnificent killing machines; my grandmother was a pretty tough woman too; thanks for bringing back those memories love youfriend!
Those animals terrify me. Good poem, though!
ReplyDeleteHank you captured that moment perfectly--enjoyed how you built from physical detail of the croc to the kill--nicely done! :-)
ReplyDelete