Mother
Slowly, circuitously she approached.
Her eyes fixed on him.
Not wanting to arrive.
Reaching his side she squatted and poked him with her finger.
He did not stir.
She picked him up and shook him
As if trying to wake him from a dream.
His head lolled.
It was no dream.
Already his body was cooling;
Giving its heat to the warm air.
A low moan escaped her lips.
She sat back on her haunches
Cradling him to her breast,
Into her fur,
As if the warm of her body
Might revitalise him.
Her vacant eyes stared.
She began to rock back and forth
Like a metronome.
Two hours passed.
She was still rocking.
Opher 6.9.2020
I wrote this after seeing a video of a chimpanzee trying to deal with the horror of her dead baby.