Ode to a Reptile

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Crocodiles in muddy rivers,
lying low, watching me- eating me.
Is your heart ever tender,
do you love your un-hatched eggs?
Do you ever reflect upon life in the mangrove,
or are your thoughts only that of survival
and what to kill for your next meal?
Crocodiles in boggy lakes
do you ever pet another crocodile?
Or feel sorry for a wounded gnu
that struggle to be free of you?
Are your heart that of a warrior
who has no compassion
whose only passion
is to be the biggest beast
in the cruel human swamp.