Gert Strydom - A hippo at dawn

The cracking branches as it rushed in
had a shocking kind of thunder to them
and where it entered the swollen river
I heard the rushing water splashing

and at that breaking of day
the scene was something primitive
as if from the very beginning of mankind
while that huge animal lingered with gaping jaws,

jaws that could open wide enough
to snap the small rowing boat in two
in which I was crossing the stream

while like in a kind of dream
everything was happening very slowly
before suddenly the water boiled
as in great might it turned away,

and the water swallowed it.

Gert Strydom

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-hippo-at-dawn/