Featured Poem: Living Fossil

 

By Carol Anne Dunn
Cape Canaveral Branch, Florida

 

From the safe harbor of my lanai

I see the opportunistic crocodilian lying in the sun,

Soaking up the rays before the day is done.

An ectothermic cousin to the dinosaurs of old,

Dark and grey, wet and slimy, and covered with duckweed mold.

Beware, my reptilian brain scolds,

This monolithic beast is dangerous and bold,

Soon before the murky waters, he will dive,

Perfect environmental adaptation, this living fossil thrives.

 

The moonbeams dance upon the pond,

Illuminating the sinister waters with a silvery song.

Where ancient crocodilian sleeps,

Within his hollow nice and deep.

But come the morning, he will rise,

To surface on the bank, his monolithic size.

In the ancient rhythm of existence,

His ancestors call with increasing and relentless persistence

He starts his calls to tempt a mate,

By sucking air, his lungs inflate

He bellows loudly to warn off male intruders,

His mating call could not be cruder.

 

He moves across the pond with stealth-like glide,

His body submerged; he moves with ease to the other side.

His awesome power contained in torpedo design,

He likes freshwater, not so much brine.

A cunning, resourceful stalker, he hunts,

And doesn’t have to eat for a month!

An Apex hunter, adaptable and on the prowl,

An ancient killer, you do not want to run afoul!

 

 

6 comments

  1. Carol Anne Dunn says:

    Sharon, we get some very large gators in our retention pond. Thank you for your comment.

  2. Sharon Payne Hardy says:

    I wouldn’t want him as close as he had to have been for you to describe him so accurately.

  3. Donna Puglisi says:

    Congrats, Carol! You make our Cape Canaveral Branch proud! Yes, beware of that gator’s stare!

  4. Barb Whitmarsh NLAPW says:

    A GOOD PIECE ABOUT AN ANCIENT ANIMAL STILL HOLDING ON
    TO EXISTANCE. DANGEROUS AND YET VERY INTERESTING AND
    I ADMIRE SOMETHING THAT WOULD EAT ME UP IN A HEARTBEAT.
    AND THAT’S JUST A SNACK. WELL DONE, AND THANKS FOR SHARING.

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