The giraffe, being tall
And spotted
By the lion waiting
In the dry grass
A long neck
reaches for a high branch
by the sharp teeth watching
from the dry grass
Sunlight defeats the ground
beneath cloven feet
a roar
the rumble of claws on gravel
being the hare, searching the savannah
i see the giraffe standing at the watering hole
perhaps a lion is out there, perhaps hungry
perhaps seeing the giraffe as well
being the hare, there on the savannah
i say nothing as I watch for the lion
i say nothing as I watch the giraffe
later, I am thirsty, I leap a thousand times
across the dry grass until I am there
with the giraffe
‘giraffe, do you worry that you are spotted
by a lion at the watering hole?”
perhaps the giraffe is scared, perhaps hungry
perhaps seeing the lion as well
being the hare, there on the savannah
i wait as the giraffe says nothing
I wait as the giraffe watches for lions
now, I am sated, i say, “giraffe,
you will always be spotted
and you will always be tall enough to see
off into the distance and run”
perhaps the giraffe is laughing, perhaps angry
perhaps knowing I’m a fool as well
being the hare, there on the savannah
i smile as the giraffe leaves me wondering
about the beauty of the one that runs
everything
without claws or teeth.
All the (what
Maybe) clouds like
Fluffy (buzz less) bees
Searching (not for
Honey) – and we
Too (un) together
Wish we could
Fly (& other things
That do not end
Without sweetness)
i see them hungry, the cavemen
hunting mammoth near the mountains.
the cavewoman at home,
hungrier – wondering
not of protein, but of soul –
this diet of hers, it is cold
for the heart – a gathering of berries
of nuts, of bones
the cavemen come home
not today, not tomorrow
but soon – with fat and ivory
with fur and meat
the cavewoman does not smile
she tends the fire
silently
a hide must be tanned
i hear echoes in the paint
on the walls of caves in France
i smell loss in the distance
between now and then
I see the caveman singing
his story into the embers
as they flail upward toward the stars
– the cavewoman does not sing along
she is hungry
for more than this