i came across a snail the other day
he inched slowly passed me
and hid himself in his curved shell

i observed him
his hesitant intake on life
so restless, timid, afraid

why do you live this way I asked
avoiding the reality of life
and try to bury yourself
what do you have to fear

we fear for our lives
because our race depends on it
we snails do not have
overpowering physique
nor do we possess
great strength and intelligence
we have only our shells
to protect us
from the fright of the outside world

some of us need to look after ourselves
more than others he replied
we struggled for survival all our lives
trying to escape other creatures
other predators

but how can you face life
if you are going to hide from it
i simply do not get why some creatures
would be so cowardly
to live the way you snails do i argued
refusing to understand the concept of his words
full of defeat and grief

before I can get another word in
he picked up his pace and crawled away from me
unable to accept advice
from a fearless creature





tarantula