Crocodile in the Sky

Crocodile in the Sky
Dr Abe V Rotor

These two photographs of Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard
were taken from the Cultural Center of the Philippines where
the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Awards Ceremonies was held on
that day, August 30, 2009.


Crocodile in the Sky

I thought I would see the last of your kind
With every tree cut, swamp drained,
The river dammed or made into sewer,
The shore into resort and fishpond.
Or at least in homage, I would visit you
In a museum, stuffed or in skeleton.

Darwin and Freud studied you well
Didn’t they? So with Orwell and Marx,
Prophets and sages of old and new,
Crick and Watson, Venter and Collins –
If your DNA doesn’t suffice to tell me
All about you – then who are you?

You must be a ghost who haunts and lurks,
Immortal before your mortal demise
And haunting man since his fall,
And haunting him still - perhaps forever;
Ah, you are the biblical devil no less
To test man's rationality and obedience.

You have no place then except the place
Of your birth and those of your ancestors
In flesh and blood – and if you are a ghost,
It’s time to say goodbye to your friends,
Your guardians, benefactors,
And clear your image in the sky. ~