Monitor Lizard- Phetburi, Thailand

I was staggering back home
my silk dress shirt wet
and my eyes stung by sweat
when I saw you rambling
through the tough, low caste grass
of the most over-grown edge of campus-

your five feet of dull green scales
your burly claws
your round, dinosaur head
- all moving without pause or hurry -

I'm sorry to admit that I went
and told a native professor about you;
I thought you were a Komodo dragon
and possibly a boon
to this gnarled Thai community
that's grown roots in my Bohemian heart.
He disdainfully told me you were only a monitor lizard-
quite harmless.

So in search of your "experience,"
I stumbled through rugged, pear-bearing bushes
and got my England-made dress loafers caught in a wire
I thought might be a trap for you-
but I was blessed that it was just
a littered metal serpent
and even more so I never found you.

For on this noisy, glowing machine
I use to engorge my mind
and dull my eyes,
I just read that your chomp can be lethal.

But thank you
for being here in the same world
as cool offices with fuzzy, identical cublices
and mediocre, steaming coffee
readily available to purge
any return of an employee's animal balance.

Thank you friend-
even if I was just a fleeting worry to you;
you brought needed courage to my day.
Thank you teacher-
for this wordless lesson.