THE JOURNEY OF THE LONE SNAIL
(Part Six)

The snail continued on its quest so grand,
Through savanna's stretch, across the land.
Until it saw, on a tree so high,
A dingy bird, with a watchful eye.

Drawing near, the snail observed with care,
A vulture perched beside bones laid bare.
"Good old dingy bird of carcasses," it began,
"Can you teach me wisdom, as best you can?"

The vulture turned, with a gaze so bleak,
And in a voice, low and weak,
It said, "I don’t know if wisdom I bear,
For I’m an ugly bird, with a bald head laid bare.

I’m slow and I stink, and few see worth,
In a creature like me, tied to the earth.
But patience, oh snail, is my closest friend,
For it’s in waiting that my life finds its blend.

See these bones, dry and stripped of flesh,
They tell a tale that’s grim, yet fresh.
This antelope, now just a frame,
Was once a creature of beauty and fame.

Born under the sun, with strength and grace,
It ran through the fields, led the race.
Its beauty was unmatched, a sight to behold,
While I, just a vulture, old and cold.

It paid me no mind, not a glance or thought,
For who fears the ugly, when beauty’s sought?
Sometimes it taunted, made me fly,
But I watched in silence, from the sky.

When the lions came, with hunger to feed,
I saw them approach, driven by need.
The antelope, unaware in its pride,
Was caught unguarded, with no place to hide.

I could have warned, I could have cried,
But how would I eat if the prey didn’t die?
Her death was swift, the lions fed,
And left the rest for me, the dead.

Contentment, dear snail, that’s my way,
I wait, I watch, I live day by day.
Patience and acceptance, that’s what I preach,
For in this harsh world, that’s within my reach."

The vulture laughed, a sound so dry,
It echoed through the empty sky.
The snail felt a shiver, a hint of fear,
Perhaps it had ventured too far, too near.

But something within, a spark, a light,
Urged the snail onward, through the night.
For wisdom comes in forms so strange,
From the beautiful, and those who change.

The snail knew now, that life’s great test,
Was to seek out wisdom, and never rest.
To learn from all, both weak and strong,
To find its path, where it belonged.

With a nod, the snail moved slow,
Away from the vulture, with a heart aglow.
For it knew that patience, and contentment too,
Were lessons of life, deep and true.

So on it went, through the grasslands wide,
With a newfound strength, and hope as its guide.
For nothing ventured, nothing won,
And the journey of wisdom had just begun.

To be continued