An Encounter With A Compassionate Cobra Poem by Somanathan Iyer

Peeping back through my memories by decades four that have gone by
An incident that almost stopped my heart beat with fear
Escaping unhurt from the jaws of a certain death
Still I feel a shiver all over when I recollect that incident
May was the month the peak of summer
Scorching sun, humid conditions, sweating bodies
Hot winds, withered leaves, dried water sources
Venturing outside was a matter of misadventure
Yet we in the villages used to bother never about such things
A mango grove of ours stood there bordering the village hills
My turn it was to go in the evening for safe guarding the yield
By five in the evening the climate turned unexpected
Scorching sky was dotted by dark clouds from nowhere
In minutes the entire sky has become darker and darker
It rained and poured with the support of gales and thunders
The rains were heavy and the winds were violent
Damaged was the entire mango crop that was almost ripe for harvest
Mobiles and phones were not in use then for seeking a help
Before the help joining me I set out to gather the strewn mangoes
On a carpet of wet dried leaves I was storing the mangoes
Engrossed in thoughts I reached under the biggest tree of the grove a walking on bare foot I stepped on some soft and solid thing
Before I could realize on which my leg trampled
With a big hiss swaying with anger stood before me a very big cobra
Standing tall to five feet on its rear still some four feet on the ground
It was hardly three feet away from me swinging its hood like a pendulum
Motionless and speechless I was and almost I wet my clothes
My vocal chord failed to shout and my legs failed to move
The love of my parents, siblings and friends filled my thoughts
Resigned to fate I closed my eyes and started prayers in desperation
Opening my eyes after a couple of minutes I found nothing before me
Except marks of passage left on the wet leaves by the kindhearted cobra
A mystery it is still to me how an angry cobra left me unharmed