the hyenas
with a swift run, yelping,
and a blazing red skull illuminated
on my waiting room wall,
both broke my concentration
and coughing, i fled,
into an dreamworld
as majestic as the distant Mountain of God
and as cold as the snows of Kilimanjaro:
my left lung was filled with glass shards
as a Maasai warrior watched me from a high rock,
standing on one leg, impassive,
and i could see the sun dancing on his spear point.
i was being sedated in a hospital operating room,
watching the wild dogs chase a young zebra foal.
a heavy dark cloud enveloped me, and sheets of rain
nearly drowned me, but i awoke, foggy-brained,
covered with a buffalo skin shield for safety.
my right lung was protected by my emperor's guard
dog and seemed healthy;
my left lung was not doing so well, but might be saved,
as a local witch doctor explained.
the bones of dead animals covered the floor.
i went home to sleep some more,
high in the safe branches of a Baobob tree.
