Friday 24 April 2020 / 2 Weeks Lock Down Extension
Piranha
The silence has been broken
The news is on again
More forecasts have been spoken
More looming clouds of pain
My heart is all but broken
The world has gone insane
When will the seed be awoken?
It’s all such a mental drain
Piranhas are freshwater fish that mostly inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Due to the legendary tales of these flesh eating predators, I had hoped to come across some of them to fulfill my expectations of dogmatic fantasy.
The only piranha I ever came across (besides all the stuffed specimens on tourist shelves) was the remains of one sticking out the sand. I was delighted on the find and immediately imagined the piranha head back home mounted on a mantle-piece or part of some random work of art. The decision was soon met with regret the following morning when my backpack started to smell somewhat fishy … and so I had to unfortunately discard the head.
Some interesting facts about piranhas:
Although often described as extremely predatory and mainly feeding on fish, their dietary habits vary extensively, and they will also eat plant material, leading to their classification as omnivorous.
Piranhas have one of the strongest bites found in bony fishes. Relative to body mass, the black piranha produces one of the most forceful bites measured in vertebrates. This extremely powerful and dangerous bite is generated by large jaws. These strong jaws combined with finely serrated teeth make them adept at tearing flesh.
Although often described as extremely dangerous in the media, piranhas typically do not represent a serious risk to humans; as with all things in nature, it is usually the other way around. However, attacks can occur, especially when the piranhas are in a stressed situation, such as in dense groups when the water is lower during the dry season and food is relatively scarce. They are often considered a nuisance by fishermen since they steal bait, eat catches, damage fishing gear and may bite when accidentally caught. Most piranha attacks on humans only result in minor injuries, typically to the feet or hands, but they are occasionally more serious and very rarely can be fatal.
Mass Media Piranha
On a metaphorical level piranhas remind me somewhat of the mass media. Locals had told me that it was safe to swim with piranhas in the water, though I was not entirely convinced. Be that as it may, piranhas only tend to go into a feeding frenzy when they smell blood and when there is a lot of splashing from stressed movement in the water. If you don’t believe me, just watch this crazy testing of the waters here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SuNIoS1yxA
The point is that during this time we should try at best to remain calm, within one’s soul, within one’s thoughts, within one’s body. The mass media (and social media for that matter) has this tendency to exacerbate an already stretched situation. If anything, the biggest threat we face is the pandemic of fear. Before we know it we are agitating the energy around us, hemorrhaging vibrations of fear. Losing our senses we suddenly find ourselves been ripped apart by countless razor sharp teeth of the hysterical mass media.