When wildebeests and zebras lose four out of five young on the great migration
When frightened waterbucks exude an odor so predators back off from the kill
When a zebra rests its heavy head on a fellow’s neck to doze Africa is the mother who cranes her spotted neck and bears witness

When elephants of canopy cloud forests grow tusks so heavy they scrape the ground
When secretary birds with quill headdress stomp birds and lizards with hard padded feet
When giraffe rivals bludgeon with their heads and necks for rights to termite mounds
Africa is the mother with thrashing tail who pricks her tufted ears and does not judge

When the confused lioness adopts the orphaned antelope then eats it
When an enraged hippo of seven thousand pounds outruns a fleeing human
When a lion pride brings down a cape buffalo and begins to dine before it is dead
Africa is the mother who lies in the grass and does not blush