My 17th encounter with the peacock

1.
Living is simple
Said the peacock to me
Peering into the 700-page volume on the Renaissance which I was studying

You can continue reading
Or step into the puddle
To splash water
On passers-by



2.
Long live the worm society
Said the peacock
Poking his beak into the damp earth
Gobbling an earthworm
Not one
But many
Before they decomposed the moss
Any further

That's grotesque, why did you do that, I asked?

This chap's ancestor, the peacock said
Swallowing one more
Lived 120 million years ago
Caused the putrefaction
Of dinosaurs
By eating into their brains

Then
He burped
Very loudly
Stretched his leg-muscles
And dozed off on my charpoy

That's how I was deprived of my afternoon siesta