I am the ultimate predator
Unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs
We and my kin have been here beyond memory
We have seen glaciers advance and recede
Continents split and form
Fire of the gods fall from the sky
And rise from the ground
Yet it is man who plagues our world
The death and destruction he leaves in his wake
He hunts us
Like we hunt him
But while we hunt to eat
He hunts for our skins and for trophies
With his numbers and machines
His encroachment and his poisons
We can but nibble at the edges of his world
So we make our home where we can
I and my family live in place that the men call Ramree Island
In the mangrove swamps
Living as we have always lived
While men unleash their powers against each other
Fire and metal
Machine against machine
And we die because we are inconvenient
In the way of their senseless slaughter
Their cannibalistic over consumption of themselves
Of late, the noise and destruction has been close to my home
All we can do is shelter where we are
And listen to their machines
And to their self-destruction
To men dying by man
However one night
A thousand men ran into our home
To make it their own
They were tired, hungry, and scared
They sought refuge, safety and sleep
But this is our home
And while their weapons are fearsome
So are we
We feasted like never before
With the tables turned in our favor
A hunting ground of our choosing
We grabbed and rolled
Pulling them under the water
And ate all that moved
The night was filled with the sound of the screams of man
And the sound of centuries of revenge
A feast to tell of to our young
The night we fought back
Enough for everyone
A re-ascendancy to the throne of apex predator
For one long night
The men outside our swamp called us their allies
They should not
We would just have easily eaten you
And you would have deserved it just as much
In the years since
The “worst animal attack ever recorded” as man called it
Has been called into question by men who were not there
Who would tremble in our presence
But I and my kin remember
Just as we remember the birds the next day
Cleaning the meat from our teeth
This may be the world of man
But I do not cry for you
A reminder that while your technology insulates you
We will still be here when you are gone
Feeding on your bones.
Image by Angelo Giordano from Pixabay
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