To Mollel, After Safari
The red vein road swirls down around the crater
we fly over
on our way east
to Zanzibar –
clouds cast shadows on the plains
familiar shapes
hippos and twigas
We are quiet because we know
in our veins we carry new blood
this the throb and pulse of wild animals
Jillian, the dumas or baby tembos
Eddie, the heartbeasts and gazelles, Jean
the orphaned wildebeasts needing new mothers
Who travels with me? I wonder as we pass
Moslem women wrapped in vibrant colors
on busy market streets
the bush feels too far from me now
the Indian Ocean crashes
in view
But this I am sure
for many nights the leopard of the marsh
will walk the moon of Mollel's dreams