The Raptor

The Raptor

In the distance I hear him roar.
Then again, closer now.
His screech now in my ears.
Horrible as fingernails on the chalkboard

I turn around.  He's there!
Hiding in the bush.
His friends not far behind.
This is God's mistake, and he is hunting me!

The devil in the trees.
He is an ancient beast.
With frightening speed, he lurches forward.
Overtaking his prey.

His teeth are like chainsaws
Tearing at my belly.
Near to my face now,
His breath like the stench of rotting flesh.

My encounter with this over-sized lizard
Was far from pleasent.
Now the pain is over,
And this ferocious flesh-eater is complete.

(Written sometime in the late winter/early spring of 1995)