Have a read of my poem, ‘Holding On’ first published in Old Water Rat Publishing. ‘Holding On’ is one of the pieces in my second poetry collection recently released by Ginninderra Press titled ‘Flat White, One Sugar‘.
I hope you enjoy it.
Holding On:
When we are wet and cold,
we shelter under umbrellas & awnings.
When a lizard is wet and cold—often seeming
frozen or dead—they drop from trees, stunned.
They’ve shut down, no longer able to hold on.
It’s true they like to wake up in the warm sun,
just like us, even though they are cold-blooded.
Maybe a blue-tongue lizard’s easy-going nature
is what makes them a popular pet.
Maybe it’s their striking blue tongue.
You see lizards climbing the brick facade
of your house as the rain keeps pelting down.
They may hibernate in a hole in the ground,
or maybe a tree trunk or a fallen log.
City living is challenging if you’re
clinging to walls & windows. Scaling
a windowpane without falling off is one thing.
When enemies approach, some reptiles,
nicknamed the Jesus Christ lizard, can run on water.
If surprised by a predator, some lizards can detach
their tails or change colour to escape their enemies.
Others can look in two directions at once.
We’re looking in the direction of human predators
executing genocide far away in a war.
We can’t make it stop.
Is there nothing we can do?
To hang on, lizards have evolved
larger and stickier feet, while wild winds
blow your umbrella inside out. These reptiles
have come to grips with their changed lives.
Maybe we don’t want to keep looking at
images of suffering. Rather, we could
get ourselves a biodiversity conservation licence
and keep an eye on a blue-tongue
backyard buddy,
or not.
Copyright 2024 Libby Sommer
Photo by Jana on Pexels.com
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