Agony

Agony came from nowhere
Like a tropical whirlwind
And blew away my thatched roof
To the last straw and shook me to my roots,
Leaving me like a dazed babe.

Agony, like receding ground water
Took me by desperation,
When I stretched
My root to its breaking point
To hold on to the last disappearing drop,
With my stems drooping
And the branches and trunk
Shrunk by an unexpected pestilence.

Agony took me unawares,
Like a wild anaconda,
Tightening its deadly grip
On my frail body and spirit,
Thereby cracking my ribs
In ones and twos and threes.


I helplessly I pleaded with the reptile
Not to relish my predicament
And in stead show mercy
By devouring me all at once.