Hardcore Tortoise
By OneKind supporter Stephen Watt
You, walking fossil, are a mobile
bomb shelter. A steadfast rammer,
built to last.
Dragon-bones, cast as oracles,
last lifespans reserved for royals
and immortals;
make pacts with Vishnu
to carry domed worlds upon your back.
When the earth trembles, quakes,
shakes its crust then floods,
it is the World Turtle churning the seas,
reconstructing land from mud
and your blood has been depicted
both as blessings and witchcraft
but you’re not daft; keeping your scaley head down
until the melee has passed.
In this race, slow and steady
wins every time, disinterested
in extinctions instigated by humankind
and where home is a treasure
to be preserved, valued, part of you
until days come to an end;
the shield of you
is all that’s left behind.
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