"CRUSHED TO DEATH IN THE BENGAL WOODLANDS"

caught, subdued and compressed
i become
trapped within the coils of the legless Naja
hauled in
like a fish on a line
helpless
subject
to a primal reality
the intrinsic violence of the natural order
ambushed, seized, clutched and snatched
and made to break slowly :
here is no rush
here is no hurry
here is only hopeless death for the weak

the haemorrhage commences :
a destruction of the neural process
a disruption of sanguinary function

i try to scream but my lungs are burning
i try to struggle but my body is rendered pathetic
i try to wiggle but i am shut as a brick in a tower
i try to kill but i am the one dying

my circulation arrests
my cardiac activity impedes
my blood vessels close
a fatal loss of oxygen and glucose

general ischemia arrests my mortal being
as the bones break into a sinister rhythmic clanking
of peak human agony

          * * *

Nagaraja of the dense tropical bush :
mother of all serpents
in this natural slurry,
haunter of the littoral zone, appear !
lurker of the obscure waters
and abandoned paddy fields
watching from the surface,
ophic eyes emerge
in the midst of the sprawling Nymphaea

tonic scents of aquatic plants
hides the beast beneath, the
slitherer of the mangrove grounds

Bengali monster of the bog
slinking amongst the rhizomes
coiling upon the nodes
sunbathing on the mudflats of Baleswar

crushed as if the chital i am

no respect is given
in the heart of the primeval rainforest :
all respect is earned and feared
nothing is given away, nothing is wasted
everything is taken, everything recycled
everything devoured and digested by something
in this tropical monsoon inferno

human friability manifests
once again
in the thickest recesses
of the Sundarbans inferno

as swift and full of grace
as the retractility
of the sharp claw of the raptor
my death is
in this solitary Bengal woodland

i was crushed to death
by a massive snake :
a complete and terrifying honour

i lived and i died
a servant
in nature's church