Meerkat Maria Poem by Paul Butters

You ooze with Love and wrap your arms round Doreen’s pup.
Turn and Look!
That’s Doreen the dominant female who would evict
You and kill your pups as soon as you become a threat!
Turn and Look.
And yet your mother’s instinct makes you put aside
Your cravings to conceive yourself, to cradle that babe
Of hers, as Meerkat daughters and sisters do.
Turn and Look.
And so you perpetuate this little Meerkat Team,
By sacrificing yourself so that others can lord
This Kalahari manor.
Turn and Look.
It’s time to forage yet again but you will stay
And babysit, while others take guard or teach the young
To hunt and fight.
Turn and Look.
Keep looking, Meerkat Maria!