|
they remember faces
—zoo employee
people of the Indonesian islands
slit the throats of goats
and hang them upside down to appease
these intelligent reptiles
at the zoological gardens
a transparent barrier between us
my eyes scan a huge back half-submerged
in water, tail almost as long as body
light strikes the glistening neck
broken strands of opal
abundantly shedding olive-green skin
a dinosaur decaying
the seven-foot length slowly pivots
wedge of brow harsh and defined
cleft tongue flicks out
staring eye dilates
in Indonesia, this close
one twitch of
its tail
could knock me over—
by Clara Blackwood
from: Under the Dragon's Tail, ©2002
|
