THE FOG
PART TWO
Section 14
Fairies and elves and pixies and goblins
And a merry leprechaun chatting with robins.
Jumping out of the water with sparkling
fins
So madly excited are the frisky dolphins.
Even the monitor lizard on a boulder perched
Into the happy din, ponderously lurched.
At the bobolink, it fixed a sinister
stare
Absolutely mesmerized by the bobolink’s hair.
“Here no indiscipline am I going to brook
It is my siesta time, let me go sleep in a
nook.
But, bobolink, get salon–like wavy locks
And you, lapwing, stop your endless talk.
Peacock dear, stop strutting around like a
model.
And pigeon dearest, when will you stop your
yodel?
Lapwing, I don’t like the tonal quality of
your voice.
You have no choice, but please make less
noise.”
“It is taking its name of a monitor too
seriously.”
Whispered a Chinese coot with mischievous
glee.
Having delivered the sermon, the lizard
slithered
Towards a tree, unaware of the coot
which tittered.
Suddenly towards them hobbled a figure
scarved.
He looked like a man starved, out of stone
carved.
Followed by a tall woman wearing a red cape.
“Such figures are a part of the jungle’s
landscape.
Marsh Fog -- Tony Conner
A leprechaun (leipreachán) is a type of Irish fairy, usually depicted as little bearded man wearing a coat and hat who partakes in mischief, a solitary creature who spends his time making and mending shoes, has a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, In the “Echtra Fergus mac Léti” (Adventure of Fergus son of Léti), rí Ulad (the king of Ulster) was awakened when three lúchorpáin (“little bodies”) tried to drag him into the sea, but he seized them; in exchange for their freedom they granted him three wishes, including the ability to breathe underwater. When the king swam in Loch Rudraige (Dundrum Bay) in Ulster, his encounter with a sea-monster caused his face to be permanently contorted in terror, a condition which would disqualify him from the kingship, but the Ulstermen banned mirrors from his presence to keep him from learning of his deformity. However, seven years later he whipped a serving girl, who retaliated by revealing the truth. Fergus returned to Loch Rudraige and killed the monster in a two-day battle but died of exhaustion.
ReplyDeleteSome monitor lizards are only 20 cm (7.9 in) long but may be over 3 m (10 ft). Their genus name (Varanus) is derived from the Semitic root “waran’ (dragon, lizard beast). They got their English name, monitor, due to their occasional habit of standing on their back legs. Although normally solitary, groups as large as 25 are common in ecosystems with limited water resources, in which case the group is called an agency.
A coot is a small water bird with black feathers and a prominent white patch on its forehead. A group of coots is a cover or covert.
Thanks so much for your enlightening comments,sir .
ReplyDelete