Speak up,’ says Myrna

Speak up,’ says Myrna who has a fuzzy white caterpillar of a moustache. ‘My hearing’s not so good.’ ‘I WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD.’ Liz turns to Thandi. ‘I thought you said you didn’t remember how you got the hole in your head.’ Thandi apologizes. ‘I just remembered.’ ‘Shot in the head!’ Florence-scratchy-voice says. ‘Oy, … Read more

There is no waste

There is no waste in functioning natural ecosystems. All organisms, dead or alive, are potential sources of food for other organisms. A caterpillar eats a leaf; a robin eats the caterpillar; a hawk eats the robin. When the plant, caterpillar, robin, and hawk die, they are in turn consumed by decomposers. G. Tyler Miller

Race is the great

Race is the great taboo in our society. We are afraid to talk about it. White folks fear their unspoken views will be deemed racist. People of color are filled with sorrow and rage at unrighted wrongs. Drowning in silence, we are brothers and sisters drowning each other. Once we decide to transform ourselves from … Read more

The colours of insects

The colours of insects and many smaller animals contribute to conceal them from the larger ones which prey upon them. Caterpillars which feed on leaves are generally green; and earth-worms the colour of the earth which they inhabit; butter-flies, which frequent flowers, are coloured like them; small birds which frequent hedges have greenish backs like … Read more

To write a book

To write a book such as Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn is a formidable undertaking. You must accumulate thousands of facts and spare no detail, no matter how terrible. It is always easier to write a piece of fluff and leave everybody smiling. But then, the horrors of poaching would continue unchallenged?like as tent caterpillars … Read more

The great loneliness- like

The great loneliness- like the loneliness a caterpillar endures when she wraps herself in a silky shroud and begins the long transformation from chrysalis to butterfly. It seems we too must go through such a time, when life as we have known it is over- when being a caterpillar feels somehow false and yet we … Read more