Images of Africa

                                                                           

 

                                                                  Dik-Dik

 

I ate one, once,

For lunch,

Or a part of one, rather,

And now I'd rather I hadn't

(Although I said thanks at the time).

 

Look at the sheer size of it, for a start –

What sort of heartless fellow could munch on a deer

No bigger than a dog?

 

The steak was prime,

The taste delicate as a gourmet might say,

But not as delicate as the dik-dik’s quivering thighs,

Not as delicate as the dry summer brown of its flanks,

Less delicate by far than the fey dark amber of its eyes.