Supplanted Saurians

Supplanted Saurians

 

The mammalian world

needs to listen to reptilian

cries for reparations.

 

–Tom Riley

 

Godzilla versus Pezzulo

Godzilla versus Pezzulo

 

Yeah, he’s big and has powers — but she
Vomits prose that sane judges agree
Is a pain in the rear.
Monstrous reptile: learn fear!
It would truly be better to flee.

 

—Tom Riley

Lower Species

Lower Species

 

Wolff’s a lizard man. Don’t even try
To deny what you cannot deny!
Squamous head, static grin,
Human overlay thin:
I am sure he could lick his own eye.

 

—Tom Riley

Trump Card

Trump Card

 

ISIS beaten. Economy great.
Jobs produced — oh, and at what a rate!
Pundits have a quick look
At the Lizard Man’s book.
“Trump is hopelessly crazy!” they state.

 

—Tom Riley

Aberrant Behavior

Aberrant Behavior

 

“I shall now give the nation a shock!”
He proclaims, crawling out from his rock.
In response to his cue,
Other reptiles pursue.
Not the first time I’ve seen lizards flock.

 

—Tom Riley

Wolffish

Wolffish

 

Wolff? Ha! More of a reptile, it’s clear.
That bald, leathery head is a sphere
In which every foul thought
Is a fiction ill-wrought.
Higher brain functions just don’t appear.

 

—Tom Riley

Exotic Imports

Exotic Imports

 

 

(for Grace)

 

 

I hope a lizard doesn’t get your cat.
Here it should be the other way around.
Even a cat that’s lazy, old, and fat
ought to defeat a lizard. I have found
that lizards’ little crania are crowned
with wits that make all cats seem quite as smart
as Leonardo, geniuses profound
indeed, supreme in science and in art.
But great big stupid lizards? They might start
getting the better of our feline friends.
If one gets yours, my dear, don’t fall apart.
Oh, natural selection never ends!
Don’t fall for that environmental shit.
Grace: evolution hurts. Get used to it.

 

 

–Tom Riley

Republic of the Snakes

Republic of the Snakes

 

 

Cum autem immundus spiritus exierit ab homine, ambulat per loca arida, quaerens requiem, et non invenit. Tunc dicit: Revertar in domum meam, unde exivi. Et veniens invenit eam vacantem, scopis mundatam, et ornatam. Tunc vadit, et assumit septem alios spiritus secum nequiores se, et intrantes habitant ibi: et fiunt novissima hominis illius pejora prioribus. Sic erit et generationi huic pessimae.

 

 

Hey, Paddy! The Republic of the Snakes
gives thanks to you: you shaped our polity.
What you did, lad, you did for others’ sakes–
but we have reaped the benefits. Oh, see
how, out of your Green Isle, we easily
multiply in the hearts and minds of men
and women! No impossibility
imposes. We are more than we were then.
And we’re invading Ireland once again.
What you drove out returns now sevenfold.
That loveliness will once more be a den
for our unblinking kind, whose blood runs cold,
whose poison can dispatch both small and great.
Remember, lad: we always lie in wait.

 

 

–Tom Riley

 

Snakes in Exile

Snakes in Exile

 

 

We snakes in exile have a righteous cause:

To Ireland we are eager to return.

The longing for our former country gnaws

Our innards out and makes our spirits burn.

And, Patrick, we are praying saints can learn

That speciesism never has been right

Or just.  We pray that you at last discern

Our goodness.  Dare we hope you see the light?

If so, we harbor toward you now no spite.

We truly are resolved to get along.

Our differences with you, we say, are slight.

The coils that bind our hearts to yours are strong—

Or will be so if you just give the word.

The prospect, you will find, is not absurd.

 

 

 

–Tom Riley

Damballah Day

Damballah Day

 

(St. Patrick is syncretized in Haitian Voodoo with the serpent god Damballah.  He could have done worse….)

 

 

They recognized him as the Lord of Snakes.

What else were those things writhing at his feet?

At catechism, they were no great shakes—

But saw the image verdant and complete

And recognized the god.  Snakes in retreat

And in advance look pretty much the same.

The powers that men recognize, they greet.

And that, friends, is the syncretism game.

The savage in a man is hard to tame.

I’m sure St. Patrick recognizes this.

Plus, ignorance is not a cause for shame

Unless it’s willful.  Let the image hiss!

Go ahead, lads, with what you meant to do:

St. Patrick’s smiling as he nods to you.

 

 

 

–Tom Riley