Crocodile Chronicles 1 - 7 Poem by Margaret Alice

Suzie Malin “Love at First Sight”
Rae Orion “Astronomy for Dummies”

1.
I took “Love at First Sight” with me
as we went to visit your family, then
remarked that Louis, son-in-law to be,
resembled Malin’s Hans, the prospective
father-in-law - to a T;

as for Jean; all I could ascertain was
he resembled Adele in a proportional
way…

Also took “Astrology for Dummies” along;
ascertained my sister-in-law to be Pisces,
determined never to face reality, while
husband Hans was discovered to be Libra,
full of worries and uncertainty,

But oh, such a charmer, it was easy to
see why he dominated every conversation
where he figured strongly; as for
Adele, the youngest child,

She proved to be Capricorn - resolute and
determined, aloof and self-sufficient, a
leader in her own field; there we were,
you a happy Scorpion, a scion of a
soft-spoken family,

And I, an anxious crab, worried about the
holes of silence in the fabric of that
gossamer visit – ephemeral ideas flitting
through my head; Thea listening with
the dreams of Pisces in her heart;

Adele, with the determination of Capricorn
resolutely analyzing my Astrogenetic
interpretation versus conventional star signs
finding my theory most acceptable…

Cancerian me amusing a laughing Pisces; Thea,
with stories of spies, lost love and poems –
listening open-mouthed myself as Jean
recounted his adventures involving
coming to fisticuffs with his
many adversaries…

Then the crocodile grew tired, could no longer
focus on discussions of dresses, business and
finance; the crocodile dreamt of being free
to let its mind wander into a fantasy
of a he and she running off to

the planet of Balleyran, hiring a yacht, sailing
around on the wild seas of that watery planet –
he safely back from a mission where he was presumed
to be lost; she barely recovered from a broken heart
upon thinking him dead –

Oh, they had fun, sailing around
in the sun - the beautiful sun
of Balleyran!

2.

Tomorrow the crocodile enters the leash
provided by the Ice-Princess, returning
to the office to pick up the pieces of
last year’s official existence –

May Zuma soon take over the reins;
appoint new ministers, bring about
a new palace revolution – which would
enable the crocodile to remain

free and alive with the
excitement of a changing
life!


3. Beginning of Year

I didn’t know about the chasm of fear
in my heart until I returned to the
office and found myself in an anxiety
attack right from the start

I thought positive messages from friends
would help soften the blow of returning
– but no, nothing cushioned
my devastating fall into reality

suddenly the world was turned around
me, became all threat and menacing;
every friendly face replaced by an
angry animal in snarled attack

my office, sometime refuge, changed
into a torture cage; my computer –
my very best friend, replaced,
my documents gone, my mind shattered

I had no friend in the world suddenly,
could not explain the animal of fear in
my breast, tearing me to pieces, unable
to do my work, concentrate and understand

I am the biggest fool there’s ever been!

I observed people like me, undisciplined,
decided to become like you, a paragon
of conventionalism – and guess what,
now I’m neither one nor the other; not
an undisciplined bohemian, nor a
trustworthy conventional citizen

I’m a bundle of nerves, a big rejection
of all-that-is; finding existence too
painful – I cannot breathe air in the
rule-based existence I’ve chosen, neither
can I allow myself to breathe on the outside

From time to time, I stop breathing altogether,
feeling dead and non-existent. Yet someone has
to produce the document requested and I can’t,
can’t move a limb, can’t lift a finger

The body and mind I hate, the body and mind
that is me refuses my orders because I
rejected them outright as unfaithful servants –
and they become even more
unfaithful me


4. Crocodile in a Burka

A crocodile in a burka,
imagine that, I’d want several,
in different colours, of course

Rima told us how Arabic women watch
The Bold And The Beautiful
and make up their faces

wearing expensive perfume
and exquisite jewellery
to look good for their husbands,
then,
when they go on the street
the burka hides everything –
it sounds so exciting

the crocodile
would love wearing camouflage
to hide the scaly crocodile skin
and other reptilian paraphernalia
to slink out on the street incognito,
nobody knows who you are
you live a life all clandestine…


5. Crocodile Castle Regimen

The Lord and Master
of Crocodile Castle
implements a new
regimen

Griddle-like frying
and descrying all
fattening food-stuffs,
dried food becomes a fad

which is good;
lots of nuts,
especially almonds
and whole grain
products

pity I can’t eat it
with the allergy –
more vegetables,
spinach and broccoli
to be added –

Oh, scrumptious life!


6. The Nile-Crocodile

Forgotten I am a cold-blooded crocodile,
without a built-in thermostat, heard a cold
front was coming and dressed up too
warmly, felt like sudden death and getting
ready to call a doctor to have me carried
away – until remembering the problem of
overheating, pulled off the jerseys and
socks, turned the air-con to cold – thank
heaven, crocodilean me can breathe again!
It amazes the others when seeing a movement
from three jerseys to a short-sleeved T-shirt –
I used to suffer a lot in my youth, now simply
dress with crocodile needs in my mind,
getting rid of extra clothing with increasing
heat– no more dying a thousand horrible
deaths – suffocating of heat; apparently
tomorrow is D-day for the promised cold
front; I prefer freezing to frying!


7. The Crocodile-Kids

The Nile-Crocodile and the Crocodile-kids
are in trouble tonight: Scorpio realized that
all OUR marks are bad, OUR teacher
claimed we had NO hypothesis for the
task on dinosaurs; we are stupid and
mad, in self-righteous indignation
Scorpio went into condemnation:
Our performance is BAD;
our homework efforts are
non-existent! - He’ll fix it
of course; he’ll discipline
us until we get it right and
if we don’t - out of sight!