Monday, February 09, 2009

nature rules








switching on the light

I find a slimy lizard
slithering on the wall

after a while it is
on a hot pursuit
of a tiny insect

pausing a while
it watches the insect
waiting for a kill

when insect moves
the lizard swoops
wallowing it whole

in fascinated horror,
I watch it unblinking
rooted to the spot

"death for one is food for the other"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get into this train for a great ride....

34 comments:

b+ (Retire In Style Blog) said...

How very true...a life without horror would be a life without beauty. We need one to recognize the other.'

b

cyclopseven said...

Survival of the fittest. At the expense of another, survival goes on continuously but not many choose to spare some time to understand it. Good work, Gautami.

Anonymous said...

sounds like a geko, but they're not slimy. Hey, why don't you come be interviewed?

venuss66 said...

Meant to be that way.

anthonynorth said...

The harsh rule of nature - and one reason for its wonderful balance. A strange world.

Anonymous said...

I remember a gecko running out from under my bed when I was in Africa.

sage said...

You nicely captured the beauty and horror of nature. Good job.

Jill said...

The law of the jungle is put in good words here!

totomai said...

life is a survival and has harsh realities...

Lorraine said...

I don't argue with nature, it knows better than me, good nature narrative :)

Anonymous said...

It's true, sometimes it's hard to know who to root for...

Julia Phillips Smith said...

'in fascinated horror,
I watch it unblinking
rooted to the spot

"death for one is food for the other" '

Really love the ending.

Anonymous said...

I like the image of the speaker "unblinking/rooted to the spot." It perfectly echoes the lizard watching its prey. Nicely done.

Noah the Great said...

Awesome! You have to do what you have to do to stay alive.

Anonymous said...

very true statment at the end and great poem, love to the title too, very good.
love to watch those little battles of life, facinating.

Tumblewords: said...

Food chain! Fun read, it's sure life's tale.

Anonymous said...

Hi Gautami, great observation and recollection, but did he wallow it or swallow it?

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

interesting though- and I'm getting ready to eat! :)

Linda Jacobs said...

You paint a very clear image in this poem!

Life is all about balance, isn't it?

Janice Thomson said...

Nature does keep things in perfect balance whether we like it not. Excellent Guatami.

Sherri B. said...

And the food chain continues...it's not always pretty, is it? I used to see lizards like this all the time when I lived in Panama as a teen. They were always on the walls outside our house, and they were actually quite cute...thanks for bringing back some fond memories. :~)

magiceye said...

brilliant!!

Danika Dinsmore said...

I remember watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom when I was kid... but don't suppose you get that in India. It was a lot of animals eating animals.

Hey, you have a photo of yourself up now! :-)

Vishesh said...

"grandeur of dooms" is what Keats says :)

trinitystar said...

how true that is ... must we all be meat lovers?
short but to the point.

polona said...

an ancient game of life and death, of predator and prey... i love the way you presented it

Anonymous said...

As one door closes, another opens -life.

Romeo Morningwood said...

The only shiny Lizzerds we got is Gila Monsters and they is poisonous as hell!

Ya cain't blame a creature fer doin' what it's s'posed to do..and that's eat other critters and git eaten.

Hope y'er plannin' on celebratin' Darwinian Evolmalutionary week!

Nikholic said...

This reminds me of Kabir's doha.
Mati Kahe kumbhar se,
tu kya mujh ko rondhe
ek din asia awenga
mai rondungi towe.
Law of conservation of energy.

Good one!!!!

Anonymous said...

Gee watching a lizard so carefully!
But u captured the idea well here.
Death for one is food for other!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love the sounds in this! Perfect word choices!

Bone said...

This just made me think of how there's a whole little world down there that we rarely think about.

It also reminded me of the time I found this giant slug on the floor of my old apartment. It was more like a small snake. *shudder*

Janet said...

all things die so something else can eat- it's the way of it.

really nice:-)

ELAINE ERIG said...

...this is nature, is a good topic to write , and you do very well .