Tatenda

why does a man hate so
that his destruction is more permanent
than the earth that quakes?

         cry Zimbabwe, shed your tears
         innocence cannot relinquish man’s hatred

he has destroyed the fields
burned the huts
the innocent women cannot flee
his angry punishment

his lust will kill a harmless animal
not even to sell the tusk
to feed his remaining village
but to honor his contempt
of another man’s ideal

         cry Zimbabwe, shed your tears
         innocence cannot relinquish man’s hatred

Tatenda has no horn yet
and his only worth
is in the hearts of those who
know that a rhino must run free

elephant tears whet the desolation
the lakes have dried, caked in the blood
of those men who dreamed of freedom
who would return to sit under a lone acacia
and pray for time to end this nightmare

gazelles and leopard balance nature’s strengths
men who kill the difference in another
create hell from heaven where confusion reigns

         cry Zimbabwe, shed your tears
         innocence cannot relinquish man’s hatred

Tatenda will smell fear from men’s hate
an unknown sense
before the bullet takes his youth
forever forgotten
by a hyena’s useless quest for the power
of a lioness only feeding her young

Tatenda
[2008.3.7…a]
For Sarah

Author's Note. At the time of this poem's writing, Tatenda, the baby rhino in Imire, Zimbabwe, is still alive. It seems only a matter of time before he too will be killed. I pray that this will not happen.