Green Little Larva, My Friend Poem by Bashyam Narayanan

It was a gathering of
About twenty people
All in prayer assembly
Chanting Sanskrit verses
A priest like person offering
Flowers from a heap of blossoms
Of different colours
Some white, some pink, some orange
I was next to that person
And was engrossed in chanting
Sitting squat on the floor
I felt something crawling
Beneath my right ankle
Moved a bit back only
To realize it was a green little larva
Probably emerged from the
Flower heap
Though chanting, I got focused
On this little creature
Which used its entire length of the body
For its slow but very steady movement
I kept a watch on it
Hoping it to go away from me
Either in front or on the side
Suddenly the person sitting next to me
Waved his hand over the crawling creature
And pushed it in the front
In a flash the worm curled itself into coil
And I saw it spinning like a wheel
Reaching a point away from me at least by ten feet
It was in its coiled state for sometime
Before it got back its original shape
And continued its slow journey
Probably aiming at reaching a safe haven
This green little larva
Took all my attention
Making me lose track of what is going on around
I stopped chanting by then
And my only concern was
That my worm should stay safe
It moved slowly off my sight
And I felt at that time it was safe
I diverted my attention to the chanting
And forgot our little green friend
Our prayer was over
I came out of the hall
And crossed the point where for the last time
I saw the insect
My attention was drawn to a spot
Where a mini colony of small black ants
Was busy around something
My green friend came to my mind
And I bent down only to see
The worm-under-watch lying dead
On whom these ants were feeding
I returned home with a heavy heart
Having lost an unharming slow moving
Green little friend