An Uninvited Guest Poem by Namita Rani Panda

A skink sneaked into our house in the afternoon, yesterday,
Search operation went on though out the evening till night, but in vain, to our dismay,
Sleepless night we spent out of tension
Placing at our reach the tried-and-true weapons
The whole night all the lights were left on
In the morning it was found under my son's study table
Sitting silently, as if in meditation, a pious soul in a fable,
Looking regal with its copper brown snaky slick look
With its long tapering tail and a little raised cone shaped head, it was lying down like a still picture in a Science book
Its round black listless eyes were lost in divine delight
A pacifist from the world of Nature, with no mood to fight
I adored its colour and demeanor and wished to keep it as a unique pet
But for its snaky look my heart throbbed with fret
Though we have read, ' No skink in this world is venomous'
Still because of its shiny slick slithering look we felt utterly nervous
And I armed myself with a broom and my son with a stick
We first sprayed Hit to make it senseless or weak,
But to our surprise, it became more active and sprinted hither and thither
It slid under the bed, almirah, trunk, book shelf and chair
We duo too jumped and ran, screeched and screamed in a frenzied way following the skink
As if dancing as puppets to the direction of the skink
Al last, completely exhausted, we admitted a defeat
The skink too, may be tired and injured, managed to jump over the threshold and to the garden did it retreat.
Listening to our hue and cry, a neighbour rushed to know the reason
' Eh! A little skink, that we don't want to kill, because today is the International Nonviolence Day, a great occasion.'
But when I timidly looked around
Under a bush the bold skink was found
Listening to my boasting it cast a satirical smile
And disappeared to be a proud part of my garden amongst the other reptiles.
Now, me the best creation of God, repent for the cruel treatment to the tiny innocent creation
For the deep rooted wrong notion
That could not be changed by the high standard modern education.
Now everyday when I go to my office
The skink waits for me basking in my garden, to bid me good bye with a smile to remind me of my cowardice