Daily Prompt: At the Waterhole

They congregate at the waterhole

The young; the old; the grey; the brown

Each overcoming their fears

To slake their thirst in a dry land.

Warily they move forward,

The pressure from the one behind

Urging them forward into vulnerability

Afraid to miss their place in the line

To be overtaken by the lesser

In the pecking order.

Still they move forward

Treading carefully where they can

Listening for something not quite right

For the bark of warning and the grunt

Of the elders, pushing them forward

Into the mud, where hooves will be sucked down

Sucked into the swamp

That surrounds the waterhole

Sucked and stuck so that the lions will

Be bound to have a meal.

Luckily today there is no kill

Luckily today lions already had their fill

Luckily today they lived all day.

But what about tomorrow?

 

Words and photo copyright Englepip©

 

via Daily Prompt: Congregate

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Daily Prompt: The Giraffe

Don’t be puzzled at my jigsaw coat.

It’s strange but it works for me.

I’m an ungulate mammal,

Who roams  the plains

From Niger right down to the South.

My neck is the longest

You’re likely to see

I can reach up high and down low.

My legs,  any supermodel would admire,

And I can run fast cross the plains.

 

But there is a problem:

When I want a drink,

I have to shrink

To reach down, there’s only one way

Keep watch: take care

And then spread them away

And trust there’re no predators around.

My eyes and eyelashes are large and brown

With a softness and warmth that’s endearing:

I am curious too, looking at you,

In fact to humans, I seem quite alluring.

Yet do you all know what you’re losing

As our habitats you are abusing?

We have  six species but some are endangered

Or vulnerable and fragile in numbers.

Though we’re large in size – extremely tall,

It doesn’t mean we will survive.

In Africa fewer than elephants wild

We need  you to realise now.

Save our habitat please ;

Please find out how

Do you really want to lose us?

 

 

 

 

Words and photos copyright by Englepip ©

 

Giraffe numbers have fallen nearly 40% since the 1980s and by 95% in some areas.

For more information on giraffes click here

via Daily Prompt: Puzzled