Out of the womb of the earth,
He trickled out, once a glorious serpent; a terror to his enemies
His skin, now sallow, limp, barely covering his existence
Dragged himself painfully, a dull thudding on the ground

A curious monkey up a tree, chanced upon him,
“O serpent, how did they beat you?
Did your poison run out?”
Or did your courage?”
And the monkey thumped his tail on the ground
Grinning from ear to ear, mocking him whose end was near
The serpent, his yellow eyes filled with ire
His large angry head went side to side,
He sat up straight, his full length
Almost reaching the quaking primate up the tree
His fangs looked like the god of death; the monkey said his last prayers
For that one moment, the serpent glistened; his once glorious self
The next, he crashed to the ground, with a tired smile,
” Go, insensible monkey, I have chosen to nevermore kill
I have embraced ahimsa
This is my penance for killing so many
innocents
I will die soon, so I can really live…!”
The monkey bowed down in shame,” Guruji,
I will follow in your footsteps…”