After Placing My Husband in Care I Visit the Serengeti
Three black headed herons stand atop an acacia bush
over the hippos’ pool as the sun begins to drop.
Their feet fit between thorns. The acacia leans
as though to catch its own reflection.
Suspended from its branches are cups of nests
male weaver birds began threading
this morning in an intricate pattern of grass.
Each nest, an upturned teacup, warming.
Yellow weavers flash above the thorns protecting
these suspended shelters swaying over the pool.
Only the eyes and nostrils of twenty hippos are above water,
their mud purple skin slippery as they snort.
The herons watch the quickness of the weavers
and the slow slide of the hippos now moving
to climb the muddy bank as the sun retreats.
I won’t lose this love. I know what I have.
*
Carla T. Griswold is a literary artist whose work has appeared in journals, anthologies and on public radio. She holds an MFA from Pacific University, Oregon. Her work has been published in Prairie Schooner, San Pedro River Review, Community of Writers Review and Peregrine Journal. Her chapbook Missing Women: 1969-1993, was published by CJ Ink. She writes from an island in the Salish Sea where she cycles to find the best views of Mt. Rainier.
Beautiful Carla