THE SWALE

By the railway line,

Where it crossed a culvert,

There was a shady swale

And a stagnant, shallow pond

Beneath a wiry willow tree.

For some reason I was curious,

So I looked into the still water

And I saw the ancient shapes –

Two green crocodiles submerged –

One a small adult,

The other youthful and pert,

Both at rest, but both alert.

There was a young woman

Relaxing on the grassy bank,

Dangling her feet in the water,

Tempting, it seemed to me,

Those cruel reptiles to attack.

So I warned her of the danger

But she laughed,

Closing her eyes to doze

And drifting away in her dreams.

I thought of my neighbours,

Who walked their dogs

Beside these murky streams,

And I visited them

To report the predators’ presence.

Now, their property was a place

Of horrors for me,

For they kept exotic fish in tanks

And clammy, carnivorous creatures in pits.

Among the menagerie were monsters –

Amphibians with round, gaping mouths

Full of razor teeth that dripped venom.

One of these beasts followed me home

And tried to trap me on my threshold

As I fumbled with my front door keys,

So I screamed in fright at my plight.

Then a tiny, ginger cat appeared -
Domesticated or feral

I could not be sure –

But, with a savage lunge,

It slashed open the underbelly

Of my cold-blooded assailant.

And, after a short time,

The feline proceeded to dine

On the freak's lifeless flesh.