Tropical Jungle in the Amazon - A Lyrical-Dramatic Tableau in Two Semi-Identical Parts
TROPICAL JUNGLE IN THE AMAZON
Innocence
Mysteriously beautiful . . .
Morning sunlight streaming in
On gleaming, opulent green . . .
Darker flora at one side of a
Tall, magnificent mahogany tree . . .
Thick drops of dew on graceful fern twigs
Grandly bowing down . . .
Yellow bill toucans screaming at one another high in trees.
A timid, red hibiscus flower opening up beneath . . .
A sudden thump on the forest floor! Another one!!
A dead branch falling . . . ?
Coconuts dropping . . . ?
The nameless presence of lurking, unknown gods
Peering out of more than a thousand eyes.
Heavy silence . . . The onset of tangible heat . . .
A loose liana hanging down, motionless . . .
The morning call of monkeys, almost musical . . .
Singing of birds, magical . . .
An abrupt rustle in the underbrush!!!
Creaking, dead wood as if surreptitiously being stepped on . . .
A hungry beast of prey . . . ?
A creepy croc or anaconda . . . ?
A pack of Cocoma cannibals . . . ?
A silence of ages . . .
My imagination . . . ? Who knows . . . ?
Fear
Dangerously beautiful . . .
Deep poisonous green and patches of lurid light
Obliquely streaking past a hidden, horrid pair of eyes . . .
An immense shadow by the side of a mahogany tree!
The distinct presence of dark, perhaps deadly entities . . .
Stifling silence . . . Heat . . . Crushing heat . . . Inconceivable heat . . .
A flesh—eating flower, blood red . . .
A violent stir in the undergrowth!!!
A panther on the prowl . . . ?
A boa looking for lunch . . . ?
Or some other man—eating animal . . . ?
Or some very hungry cannibals?!?!?!?!?
About to feast after fasting for eleven days and a half?
Aaaahhh, what’s that stab in the middle of my back?
An arrow dipped in poison?
Or just a fatal heart attack?
A twitching nerve along my spinal marrow?
A liana sweeping in circles before me!
Bloodcurdling cries all around me!!
Cannibalistic laughter and
DRUMS! DRUMS!! DRUMS!!! Tremendous DRUMS!!!!
Apelike shrieks and
EYES! EYES!! EYES!!! Everywhere EYES!!!!
Ten Thousand Eyes!!!!!!!!!!—
Five thousand cannibals???? What kind of cannibals?
Cocomas who roast you live with clothes on?
Tucanos who boil your heart and entrails?
Tapuyas who chop you up and swallow you raw?
Are they gonna suck up my blood with a straw?
Why on earth did I get so big and fat?
Why did mom always feed me like that?
Couldn’t I leave all those calories alone?
Will hungry cannibals leave me alone?
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Aren’t they coming down now in endless rows?
Oooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Are they . . . ? But . . . where . . . are . . . they . . . ?
A silence of ten thousand ages . . . No cannibals . . . ?
A sudden bang on the forest floor, quite close!!!
And another one—and another . . .
Coconuts . . . ?
Cannibals . . . ?
My imagination . . . ?
Who knows . . . ?
Photo by Enrique Ortega Miranda on Unsplash