First light dawned upon the Serengeti
And Eden broke anew with life reborn.
The sun, more sensed than seen,
Spun out its luminosity in streaks
Of red and orange across the sky,
Revealing far and wide the weightless plain,
While life began to quicken once again,
Beneath its seeing eye,
As grasses waved in time
To rhythms of the morning breeze.
A lone acacia tree in which
A leopard spent the night,
Rustled gently as its guest
Began to rise; the lissome cat
Arched its back and falling
Fluid as a waterfall to ground,
Began to scan the tall
Savannah grass with hungry eyes.
Moved by instinct and by need,
Devoid of pity for its prey,
It searched for life on which to feed,
Upon the Serengeti.
A hundred yards away, created
From the flames of ancient times,
A kopje stood – A sentinel
To birth and death through ages past.
Near its base, a small gazelle had come
To graze, as graceful as a ballerina
High en pointe, she raised her head
And sniffed the wind. but smelling
Terror in the air, she fled
In fear toward safer ground
And swiftly disappeared.
The leopard watched her get away
And shook its head, as if it did not care.
It turned in studied nonchalance
To wander carelessly around the tree
And settled in its shade to wait
For other prey this perfect day.
Another chance for death and life
Would surely be, as the sun rose
Higher in the sky, upon the Serengeti.
- Finding the Light of G‑d, pages 122 - 123