Tan Pratonix - African Rhythms

It was in Ruwenzor
I found the Bashan bull,
The purple-headed mount
Was bathed in misty blue.
A monitor lizard
Was feeding on an egg,
When suddenly there swooped
An eagle like a stone,
Crushing in the mud
A portly guinea-fowl.

I saw the phoenix rise,
Its ashes swirling dust;
Pouring through a gorge
Milky-white opals.
The jungle roared in green
And ferns lept in the air;
The basilisk crept through
A crevice in the rocks,
And chameleons looked out,
Bursting into spray.

A leopard's staring eyes
Flung upon a deer,
And savage fury torn
By hungry crocodiles.
I saw a viper creep
Through lions in the shade.
A row of parakeets
Fluttered in a wave
And stormed a gorilla
Among the luscious fruit.

I saw huge elephants
Behind a splash of fronds;
Flaming honey bees;
The hippos in the stream
Skimmed by dragonflies;
A crowd of ibises;
A galaxy of stars;
Echoing in the night
From the top there poured
A glacier of ice.

Tan Pratonix

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/african-rhythms/