Skip to main content

62. The Life of a Fruit Bat

My eyes can see
Yet I have less satisfactory perception than a fruit bat clinging to a branch in the moonlit night, hovering aimlessly over bruised peaches, staining its petty wings in sweet liquid; how unfortunate that this mere excuse for a mammal is better than I

My skin can feel
Yet a serpent has the capability to penetrate the quilted layer of my arm muscle, and it indeed, if thirsty enough, can spew poisonous acidity into the blood cells of my vein, rushing to my idiotic brain as it morphs into a mass of disgrace

Whoever imbecile founded the theory that humanity is the mightiest in the animal kingdom was clearly a fool who had never witnessed daylight beyond the golden gates of his estate. Or perhaps he had a few too many barrels of grape wine while gambling at a round table in the shaggy basement with his equally numskull friends.

The world is ironic in that way- It is the animal kingdom that is more powerful than we.

Humans are selfish, money driven rodents
We would slay others of our own kind to the bone for no liable reason
We would sell our souls in the alleyway for a five dollar bill
Some of us would be willing to cheat and lie in order to feel the ecstatic sensation of a wad of green twenties slipping in between our fingers like delicate sandpaper

It is a fact that there is no species in the animal kingdom, other than us genius humans, of course, that not only destroy, but diminish, and dismantle, their natural habitat.

As far as I am concerned, my feline pet has a higher self esteem than most people I have come in contact with. She does not mind that her stomach is bloated and on the verge of obese. No, she just lives the life she normally would with tail held high, for that matter.

A lioness has more sense than to worry about the cleanliness of her mane, or the entire species would be extinct. Whereas humans bring streams of panic upon themselves for the most irrelevant reasons, and if we were to pity ourselves for our troubles as we do now amidst the lanky grasses of the African springs, we would most certainly be dead.

My conclusion is that a fruit bat should have a higher IQ than all 6 billion inhabitants of the world combined.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

We Pretend

We pretend that we'll live forever That tomorrow will bring something better We pretend we're not made of stars As we roam the streets and bars We pretend we'll never die That our kids won't ever cry Over the loss that is our end Every student, teacher, friend Everyone we've ever known Has a constellation they call home When the moon comes out at night I look to them to see the light To all those who did pretend That their story would never end But on some nights, breezy and clear I see the stars and they feel near I can grasp one and hold it in my hand As it takes me to another land We pretend this earth is all there is to see Yet the stars and crickets have spoken to me We pretend we'll never die Because we truly won't To someone's eye

Lost in Rio

Jesus looks over The lost souls and bones below In the jungle sun To witness such beauty And such devastation God painted with one brushstroke Merry men sing Holes in their shoes The dark night lit up By police sirens And the crescent moon Bats flail around Like me, lost in the jungle Eyes glaring all around I hope they're monkeys Or jaguars I hope I can keep a piece of This country with me Safe in my pocket It smells like tropical rain And feels like The clam shells Washed up on the shore It tastes like fried bananas And heavily salted steak Sounds like seabirds cawing Samba on the streets And looks like a page From a storybook About parrots and palm trees Of finding a golden treasure A magnificent, uneasy place When she sun goes down So do we Leaving the night  To the creepy crawlers And innocent stray cats

Miles Away

I refuse to sell my heart, not for twenty-five cents The auction is closed, ladies and gents I’ve already sold my eyes, when they caught sight of the streets So now everyone can see the beauty of my Italian retreat I sold my tongue for gelato, feeling so young Letting the wild berries dance around on my tongue I sold my feet when I traveled to see our Holy Mother in gold Like a saint on a mission, I’ll walk until I get old I sold my ears when I heard beautiful Aida open her lips Echoing through the theatre in which the ancients used to sit But I won’t sell my heart, it is still free For my heart belongs to God and not really to me My heart aches for home, too many miles away Yet for now I am here and I will live for today Yes, I sold my eyes to Italy; it’s all I can see How I wish you were here seeing these treasures with me I’ll try to buy back my sight, taste, and ears too So that I’ll be able to share these memories with you