Poem #006: Serengeti

 

SERENGETI

Lion cub sleeps after his noontime meal,

Lioness climbs up their kopje home,

In the acacia tree Leopard hides his veal,

While Cheetah cat the vast plain roams.

 

Serval springs up on birds in flight,

While Wild Dogs rip a Springbok apart,

Vulture swoops down from a towering height,

But old Hyena has made off with the heart.

 

The Clown of the Plains prances around,

Agile Gazelle stots in Cheetah's face,

Nervous Impala flees in leaps and bounds,

Only Enkai knows who will survive the race.

 

Okavango Water Buck wins the chase,

For Lioness won’t wet her feet,

He’s safest in the green swampy place,

Because Crocodile won’t him eat.

 

Ox-pecker keeps Giraffe’s coat neat,

Skulking Leopard is wary of Zebra’s kick.

Hippo in a pool, cools off from the heat,

If threatened, Porcupine curls up double quick!

 

Mighty Elephant trumpets like a usurper king,

Two horned Rhino scatters his dung,

Foolish Ostrich ran and lost the use of her wings,

While Tsetse Fly's song of death has been sung.

 

When the rainclouds leave, the Wildebeest will follow,

The herds in their migration to the north,

Drought, death, and starvation, bring sorrow,

But the worst will befall them at Grumeti's froth.

 

Grumeti Crocodiles lie in wait underwater,

For one Gnu calf to come a-drinking,

Then up they jump from their hiding place in the water,

And in one gulp finish off the suckling.

 

The dust rises from the grasslands of the savannah,

Kilimanjaro watches between half-closed eyes,

The hunters will always go for the jugular,

And the hunted shall scatter like brushed-off flies.