Crocodile in the Sky

Crocodile in the Sky

Dr Abe V Rotor

These two photographs of Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard were taken

from the Cultural Center of the Philippines where the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay 

Awards Ceremonies was held on that day, August 30, 2009.

Crocodile in the Sky 

I thought I would see the last of your kind 

With every tree cut, swamp drained, 

The river dammed or made into sewer, 

The shore into resort and fishpond. 

Or at least in homage, I would visit you

In a museum, stuffed or in skeleton.

Darwin and Freud studied you well, 

Didn’t they? So with Orwell and Marx, 

Prophets and sages of old and new, 

Crick and Watson, Venter and Collins – 

If your DNA doesn’t suffice to tell me 

All about you – then who are you? 

You must be a ghost who haunts and lurks, 

Immortal before your mortal demise 

And haunting man since his fall, 

And haunting him still - perhaps forever; 

Ah, you are the biblical devil no less 

To test man's rationality and obedience. 

You have no place then except the place 

Of your birth and those of your ancestors 

In flesh and blood – and if you are a ghost, 

It’s time to say goodbye to your friends, 

Your guardians, benefactors, 

And clear your image in the sky. ~