This was a trip to Tanzania in March, 2011. We traveled to Tarengerie National Park, east of Arusha where we spent two days in that Garden of Eden viewing lots of elephants, cape buffalo, impalla, giraffe, and a myriad of birds as well as all three of the big cats and various types of antelope and other creatures. When was there in 2000, shortly after Kathy’s death, and after we had climbed Mt Killimanjaro, I wrote this.
TARANGIERE DAWN Tarangiere National Park Tanzania, February 15, 2000
Tented in starry blackness
Distant trumpets and muffled roars
Hold me awake
Frogs begin at first glimmer, then
Birdsong, rising with the light
Fills the cauldron of life below.
The valley’s greysilver ribbon turns mauve, and
Waves of violet and gold wash the African sky.
In my heart, there is no room
For sadness or pain, for
I am filled with the
Harmony and rhythm of
Life and death and
Life and death and
Endless time, flowing
Slowly on.