A Swim In the Dam

The sun baked down on our Karoo town It is dryer than dry; not a cloud in the sky. No one in the street. Nothing moves in that heat. It is the end of the school holidays Nothing to do; too hot to play, Except to swim in the farmer’s dam; Hoping we will not be told to scram Before we can dive in For that cooling swim. Down the road, through the fence We laugh, with naughty jubilance. Through the bush, to the dam Excitedly we run. Shirts and pants off in a flash Into the water, we dash and splash. But happy times must end too soon. As we walk home in late afternoon There is a snarl, there is a growl Two Dobermans are on the prowl They block our path from front and back Preparing for attack. Our only hope, to turn and flee In the distance, a single tree We do not wait, we spin around And race across the open ground They catch up quickly and try to bite As we scream out wildly on our frightened flight The moment sharp teeth sink into my thigh I know I am going to die. My flesh is ripped, To the bone is stripped I stumble, I fall I try to crawl. Blood pours onto the dusty sand. I am alone, not a helping hand. Why? Why me? Why is this happening to me? I am too young to die. Brutal teeth are the last I see As they clamp, and tear though my eyeballs. Then darkness, I am blind I scream in terror at my plight At every crunching sound, at every painful bite I can smell the stench from jaws as they rip And taste the salt of blood from my torn off lips Strong paws claw. Jaws grind, chew, and gnaw My flesh with fierce ferociousness. I drift in and out of consciousness There is no bottom to the dark depth of my despair I cannot move or see, but only feel and hear The chewing, crunching teeth on bone And feel the helpless fear that overcomes, now hope is gone Will this gnawing never cease? Please God kill quickly, give me peace. The pain is neither here, nor there But everywhere Yet, I do not care. I know, that only when I am dead, the pain will cease. Only then, will there be peace. Slowly it comes. Life’s agonising light turns into the darkness of night. The snarls become a song. Soft music in the air A world without care. Then I am gone