safari after dark

in the filtered morning sun
we take tea in the fig forest canopy
under the armed guide’s watchful eye
and rifle barrel

in the evening
after the last dish is rinsed
and the moon, Milky Way, constellations admired
it’s time to give way to the wild
retreat to our tents
and hide

it’s a long night
with what will be a full bladder
and the next tap running nonstop
the monkeys have turned it on
and it’s too close to the trees = leopards
and the hyena that won’t stop its maudlin haunting yip
for me to think about conserving anything
beyond my own skin

we’re interlopers here
I see clearly
when the dark sets in
and the bush rustles