Chameleon and Butterfly

Neither predator nor prey move an inch.
Appearances can be deceptive, though.

See how the former, hunched up on a branch,
Its protruding ribs giving me goose bumps,
Effortlessly green, has swivelled an eye
Back and up to glimpse where its prey hovers.

A glimpse from such an eye will be enough.

The unsuspecting butterfly won’t know
What hit it when that long and sticky tongue,
Longer than its owner’s body length, darts
Decisively to catch, retracts to eat.

by Ustad Mansur,
court painter to the Mughal Emperor
Jahangir (1605-1627)