Pike Poem by Guy Northam

Two feet long in an arrogant display
Of thin-headed violence;
Unmoved by life or mercy, but purely
Predatory, static and waiting for the kill.

Nothing shakes you: the stones
I rain upon your head to startle,
To shock you, glide by unnoted.
You are confident in the face of death.

It is something that you have mastered,
A simple mechanism of destruction;
Born and bred. You live as a harbinger
And know no limitations: all is prey.

My attempts to disturb you are futile
Irritation, disrupting only your meal
For the day. You understand that,
In your world, I would flounder,

As big as I am. You are wrong, of course,
But I admire your nerve and, stilled
To quietness, I marvel at your form,
The intense energy latent in you.

You are the first I have seen;
I am glad you do not condescend to perform.