Alligator

Alligator sleeps in ice,
His nose above it so he can breathe,
His heart beating three times a minute,
His tail dipped as deep as possible,
To reach the warmer waters underneath.

Alligator is not rational,
He simply follows an instinct.
Nature made him that way.
He gets to outlive us all.

Alligator does not know
Whether winter will ever end.
He lives in the present.
He picks the least of the evils
And goes from there.

Alligator may look ugly
And scary,
But he is the survival machine.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
But life is measured in years.

Alligator is not sad, nor happy
When ice covers the lake.
He sleeps,
The ancient carnivore,
Descendant of dinosaurs.

Sleep, alligator, sleep.
The cold may be forever,
But for now, you are breathing.

Your nature seems nonchalant.
But I am human.
I am only half natural.
So I'll care for the two of us,
And if you never wake up, I'll cry,

But I know you will.