The Great Rift
by cricketjeff on February 2, 2010. © Jeff Green, All rights reserved
In the African rift valley there are lakes of caustic mud,
Where flamingoes guzzle algae in a pink, peculiar flood.
Other lakes are home to midges, many billion to a cloud,
Draping beaches, live with spiders, in an ever-moving shroud.
When a trillion insect larvae are condensed into a soup,
They’ll attract amazing fishes who’ll be feeling cock-a-hoop.
Soon the silver shoals of sardines feed the nations round the shore,
While a dinosaur-like lizard steals the spoils and waits for more.
In a river full of hippos, crocodiles will lie in wait,
For diseased and bloated bodies in anthrax-corrupted state.
Birds of unimagined colours flash the forests with their play,
While the mighty “smoke that thunders” shines with rainbows every day.
In the living rooms and lounges of we nature loving loons,
There are TVs pushing pictures of some gibbons and baboons,
I may never climb volcanoes, or chase leopards through the scree,
But for showing me the magic I say “Thank-you BBC”.
Author notes
Just watched the final programme of a short series about the nature of the East
African Rift valley.
English