The Idolater

The Caiman gaped,

Serried ranks of dragon teeth

Bright with battle signs,

The fetid nest of straw

Some sort of fortress,

The moat the brackish river.


The Caiman gaped,

Burnished by the sun,

Turned Basilisk by the heat,

But another god was here,

A wrathful Jaguar,

Roving the riverbank!


The Jaguar,

First to strike!

Entered the river,

Silently intent,

Suddenly relentless,

While the Caiman gaped.


And the Jaguar,

First to strike!

Silently intent,

Suddenly relentless,

Measured the distance,

While the Caiman gaped.


And the Jaguar rised up,

While the Caiman gaped,

And clutched the beast

And gnawed about the neck

And drowned the Caiman,

And this was at Sunset.


© Richard Frank Wilson 2023