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death of an ophidian
by Vivienne Granthe murdered the python
the one we’d admired for so many hours
through the kitchen window
while she lay digesting her meal
of frog or mouse
the majestic one who was quite likely older than the boy who chopped her head off
with a spade
the wise one who unwisely
made her sedate way across the land
belonging to one
who professes to worship the ancestors
and appeases them by
ending the life of one
of earth’s stately ophidian
and we feel responsible in a way
because we didn’t capture her and keep her safe
from those who would take her life
because we didn’t want her to lose her lunch
and now she’s gone
her head in a sangoma’s hut
her body twice the length of a tall man
draped on a fence in the sun
for all to see
and for passersby to admire the bravery of the young man who
was foolish enough
to murder a python
02/27/2012 Posted on 02/27/2012
Copyright © 2024 Vivienne Grant
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Joe Cramer on 02/28/12 at 02:00 AM ... excellent..... |
| Posted by Linda Fuller on 02/29/12 at 07:42 PM This poem brings up a jumble of thoughts and feelings in me - my abhorrence of the needless killing of beautiful creatures (but perhaps this young man, with his alien belief system, "needed" to do it); the killing of intelligent chimpanzees for meat (by hungry people with totally different worldviews than mine); the killing of aye-ayes by superstitious people; my hypocrisy in eating meat; my impotence in protecting millions of creatues from cruelty; and on and on. Thank you for this poem. |
| Posted by Ken Harnisch on 02/29/12 at 10:11 PM Being an urbanite in the USA, I never thought I would be empathetic with or to a python. Such is the power of your poem, Vivienne, that I not only am, I feel some consternation for ever thinking otherwise. |
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