The Feast Poem by Raymond Farrell

I remember the sunburnt savannahs
broad-backed hippos wallowing
high-kicking gazelles
off at break-neck speeds
with the slightest tremor
the low lying cheetahs
coyish stealth turning into
lightning bursts of speed
to bring down the quarry

The blood smell draws
vultures and hyenas
to watch and wait
their turn in the round
of feeding on
the innocent warm meat
shredded by teeth and claws

Only the vultures
picked the carcasses bone clean
after the hyenas
pissed all over
what they didn't consume

It is only humans
who have added frivolous niceties
to try and civilize
this same blood-stained feast
practiced daily by all.