Wildebeest during the Great Migration, Wikipedia
One million years and more
we have been crossing the great plains,
trekking to water in dry season,
returning to grassland with the rains.
We follow the route of ancient times,
leopard and lion at our heels,
crocs in the river at our ankles,
how intense their hot breath feels!
Two Leggeds encroach in all directions,
fence us off on every side,
feel entitled to the water
for which so many of us have died.
Our once connected landscape
crossed with the message: "This is mine".
We die against the fencing
watching the water trapped behind.
On this Serengeti morn,
fresh as when all time began,
we trace an ancient pathway
here before fences of man.
Hannah at Real Toads has offered us another wonderful Transforming Friday challenge: to write in the voice of a creature of the desert. I have long ached for the wildebeest of the Serengeti, who are programmed to follow a migratory route now interrupted by miles of fences and roads. Many of them, who cant find an entry through the fencing, die looking across at the water they have traveled so far to find. Tens of thousands of them are poached also, the usual story of man taking what he wants without care for the balance of life. Sigh. I first attempted a pantoum but the lines didnt work for the message. So I borrowed the general rhythm of it, and switched things around to suit myself.
Do check out the others who link at the Toads site. There are bound to be some amazing writes today!
sources:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016370
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildebeest
