Felix Dennis

(Wisest of the wise)

Today, in a picture book, I saw
A frog with a bat gripped in its maw,
Two tiny legs hung out to dry,
Beneath a gold reptilian eye—

An eye that spoke of empty Zen
Spawned long before the dawn of men,
An eye that will be staring still
When London sleeps beneath a hill.

But of the bat, the lens was mute,
Death falls silent in pursuit,
And we may learn — to our surprise —
Who was ‘wisest of the wise’.

Mandalay, Mustique January 26, 2007