Round 9: Art

Round 8: Poetry

What the Crocodile Taught Me

I swooned at the large god of him, sunning,

a tooth for every day of my life.

He performed his run along the bank,

as males do. I brought my boat closer,

he took to following, at a distance.

I wasn’t taken in, knew his four-chambered heart

could pump love out and in, in and out,

knew his tongue had few good uses,

knew all about his grin. Whoever said he was cold-

blooded has never truly known this beast.

He brought out the prehistoric in me. I dived.

We swam, belly to belly, swam to where the Niles meet,

tussled as we thrashed among the weeds. After, I lay

the length of him, a limestone lilo, studs patterning

my skin. He smiled at me, often. Taught me all he knew.

Years later, when a man tried to drag me under,

I practised the force my lover had held back –

levered my small jaws open to their fullest extent,

splashed them down on the human’s arm.

My attacker still carries the mark of my smile.

Katrina Naomi