The Monitor

I saw the grotesque creature,
Lying placidly,
On the recently trimmed grass,
In our garden,
In embarrassing oblivion,
To the man-made reality,
That it didn’t belong,
In our garden,
Or in our civilized world…..

Its grey spotty skin,
Which thorns or pricks can’t puncture
Or jagged stones,
Cannot tear or graze….
And its sharp, serrated tail,
Possessing tremendous strength,
With which it whips away the approachers….

From a safe distance,
I stood watching it,
With a long pole in my hand,
With which I poked at it,
Every now and then….

For all its ferocity,
It lay passive, patient, and tranquil,
Like a real gentleman,
Never once resisting,
My cowardly mean assaults….

Soon I gave up,
My attempts to drive it away,
Realizing that,
I was but a spiritless coward,
Trying in vain,
To bring down a mountain,
With a fragile pole….

Before long,
It crawled away,
In magnanimous resignation,
Leaving behind for cruel cravens like me,
A silent lesson of patience!