The eye-catching scene I enjoy everyday
Is that of my immediate neighbours, I should say.
Their abode is in our adjoining garden
Covered with long-grass, bushes and weeds.
Eight members, I counted one day
On their routine they were trotting away
When darkness wraps the world for the night
In search of their prey, they come out.
Guiding the family is the porcupine leader
With all the others trailing behind
Cautious and alert how silently they walk
With sharp, tinted quills ever ready to shoot.
No hindrance to others, no annoyance created
No drinks, no drugs ever make them nasty
I’ve never heard any calamity inside
In peace and harmony together they live.
Better than some of our neighbours, I feel
Who unnecessarily cause havoc.
When silvery sun-rays start kissing the ground
And drying up the shining coral like dew drops
Their time is over, they realize
Back to the shrubs they silently creep.
This land would surely be cleared soon
What would happen, I dread to think.
Lalitha Somathilaka