“A feathered rainbow, Parakeet”
said Mr Crocodile.
“So beautiful, resplendent, bright;
I love your sense of style!
And Mrs Meerkat, you’re so sweet
Gazelle: so light upon your feet.
But look! My skin! Behold the sight!
It glimmers softly in the light,
I am the diamond of the Nile!
No-one outshines the Crocodile!”
.
“He does this every single night!”
sighed Mr Chimpanzee.
“ ‘blah di blah, my skin! My hide!’ .
He’s boring, isn’t he!?
His golden skin is smooth, he’s right,
it shimmers gently in the light.
His beauty cannot be denied.
But bad things come to those with pride.
That silly Crocodile will see
how fate will punish vanity!”
.
“Let’s sleep at night and drink by day”
suggested Buffalo.
“And then we’ll never have to hear
that big mouth’s boastful tones.”
They all agreed to stay away
and much to Crocodile’s dismay
He found his “friends” had disappeared.
He whimpered “is there no-one here…?”
But no-one heard his dreadful groans.
The Crocodile was all alone.
.
In time he found out what they’d done
“It’s pure jealousy!
I’ll visit them this afternoon
they’ll soon bow down to me!
They’ll praise my beauty, every one!”
But underneath the midday sun
his skin dried like a wrinkled prune.
No longer smooth, but roughly hewn.
No longer gold, but muddy green.
And this is why he hides, unseen.
.
.
Paul Hughes 2010
.
(based upon a story from the Bushmen of South Africa / Namibia)
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