-- The Elegant, Noble Impala –

John Herlihy

Who is it but the elegant, noble impala,

Such beauty of form to grace the savannah.

Gazes reflectively into the ages of its race,

Grandfatherly awareness overlaid on its face.

Red-billed oxpeckers the alert face grooming,

The attentive birds obliged, at home assuming.

Mirror images of two slender, lyre-shaped horns,

Rising from between the ears, the head adorns.

The impala wears a glossy, reddish-brown coat,

To run in autumn grasses as a solar barque afloat.

Horns add grace to the mature animal’s nobility,

Its overall elegance betrays a kind of vulnerability.

White rings round the eyes lend an age-old feel,

In contrast, a white underbelly hardly seems real.

A bushy white tail glows luminous in the sunshine,

With a hand-painted black stripe along the midline.

Let us not forget to mention the two large ears,

Elongated, tipped in black, unique among peers.

Known for its leap to avoid being victim of a crime,

This noble creature exudes an appearance sublime.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 28 August 2021