A Hippopotamus At Sunrise Poem by Gert Strydom

Big like a three tonne amphibian truck
unstoppable as if demon bred she shakes her head
while her seven month pregnancy is near to its end.
With the sun rising she rises from the river to shake off the muck,
follows her old track past a crocodile that is rotting and dead.
Small bushes and trees, which give her, cover and do away from her bend
and to notice her with her weighty black-grey sheen glistening we are in luck
while she stops, do wave her tail and with it do her dung spread,
where we are from her somewhat up wind and out of sight a little ahead.
A kudu almost do notice us stops grazing along with a few reedbuck
where for a moment magnificent she stands still as if her power is spend,
before onward that great hippopotamus cow do tread
but she is deadly and vicious as a killer and we are stuck.
That there is no danger to her being near we can pretend
while we are between her and crocodile invested waters with bullets of lead
and at the river and around us life goes on as we notice a passing wild-duck
but to stay standing right were we are the tracker do recommend
and while waiting in anticipation of anything very little is said.

© Gert Strydom