Africa Groans - July 20, 2021

Under a starry arc a trembling song begins

groans of a motherless wildebeest

yips and yelps of hyenas closing on

the wounded moans of a wild buffalo

lions with throaty rumbles mate and quarrel

from the deepest shadow something

not quite dead pierces the sky

prickles the hairs on my arm

Outside my tent the sight of a thousand love affairs

passion so bright the drunken moths

embrace streetlights with frantic wings

Here the night's imperative is transparent

Here life and death press hard on the living