A third poem from my recent visit to Namibia, a few luxurious days at a lodge, with wildlife, wonderful food, and the otherworldly luxury of green in the desert landscape.

Lodge morning

Animals that stayed up late browsing, 

nowhere to be seen in the golden morning, 

A single bushbuck, pondering the nights event,

Abandoned, his darkness reflects in the silver waterhole,

Slowly withdraws into the shrubby bush.

.

But the weaver birds, in noise and motion, busy, busy

Weaving away amongst the tiny, water conserving leaves, 

the narrow, close branches, the abundant twigs.

.

The lawn is a green shock in the red-grey vastness, 

A tiny pool – an unspeakable luxury 

You can float, and admire the endless depth of blue above

With only swallows flashing by.

.

Mariental, 2020