A great white shark was spotted recently
thrashing about in shallows near the shore;
to onlookers it posed a mystery,
solved the next day, in defiance of lore.
The killing machine had been choked to death
by its victim, a seal, stuck in its maw;
the beast had transformed to a silhouette
of panic that compromised powers of awe.
Thus tiger, bear, wolf, the eagle and shark
are not unshakeable symbols of terror;
flesh and blood betrays the tell-tale mark
of self-preservation, and prone to error
even while it pursues life’s well-tried ways;
that within itself is the end of days.
