South African National Parks (SANParks)

observed on our journey to satara

thick wet air heavy on every part of his body
oozing over wrinkled grey skin hung in sandpaper folds
he rests one weighty tusk amongst the zinging of insects
cushioning it in the dank decay where branches divide and detritus is trapped
and lies his bony head against limp grey leaves
and muses on cool winter days
concertina skin rippling down his trunk into the long brown grasses
twitches as the tender tip explores scents from other long-gone pachyderms
capilliaried ears raggy-edged swish gently and in the right a hole just big enough for a jumbo sleeper
indlovu the unstoppable one
indlovu who crashes and pushes his way through the acacias and the marulas and the golden-leafed mopane
who ghosts his way on softly padded spoor through the branch-laced nights
leaving zigzag messages written in the dusty kruger roads
indlovu has been stopped on this hot and humid winter may morning by an invisible crush
a sapping barrier of thrumming heat wave that sags against honeycomb surface
and presses his weight into the hard resistant ground
then
one foot lifts as the rumbling of distant family travels the drum-hard earth
and laps him in a different warmth