I. Spirits From The Americas Have Knocked On My Door Again

Yet again I have been visited in my dreams by spirits of those exotic lands,

Where palm trees sway in the wind

And mangoes fall on the roads.

Where faces are naturally lit

From the eternal light of the sun.

I ask if I shall ever return

To that paradise that I had so fervently run towards?

Last night I was visited by a spirit from that land.

There was a house in the middle of a lagoon,

A wooden structure, resemblant of a lifeguard tower,

Floating in the middle of this murky marsh,

Surrounded by reeds and weeping willows.

Inside I saw a friend,

Laughter and childlike joy.

I slowly became aware of what was in that marsh,

How stupid of me to arrive here so mindlessly

And miss this most important detail!

Crocodiles everywhere I looked.

They looked inoffensive, however…

Playing around in the water,

And yawning with their knife-like teeth

That lined that long swallowing hole.

I saw them in a beautiful light,

I saw souls in their eyes.

Yet I was unbelievably frightened.

How was I going to leave?

A dingy they said… thank God.

Yet, in my own amnesia, I dove straight in the water,

Filled with immediate regret as I did this.

Praying that no beast swallowed me up alive,

And they did not.

•••

Do not idealise paradise without reckoning with the crocodiles that live in its waters.

•••

To be read as a trilogy:

I.Spirits of The Americas Have Knocked On My Doors Again

II. Lady Crocodile

III. Crocodile Conclusio