Lizard scuttles
Stump-tailed bark-coloured
To the safety
Of the rough stone wall.
Cat yawns
Hooded-eyed
Satin-sleek old roué
The twitching stick tail half-forgotten
Beneath his godlike paw.
Lizard waits
Cold-eyed
Dull-brained
In a cool crack
With grains of sand
And the wrinkled remains
Of dry dead leaves.
Sides heave
In ancient anger
And in the eye’s dark depths
Dragon stirs
Remembering
Steaming swamps
Fear-soaked fur
Brittle bones breaking
Beneath its jaws
And the taste of hot blood
On its saurian tongue.
Viv Drewa - The Owl Lady 