Drakenberg and the animals

It looms from out of Mother Earth
Rocks of basalt climb
Into the barrier of spears
It traverses all time
dark and dangerous mountains
For a thousand miles or more
Sandstone valleys cloaked
In green
Dizzying heights explore

For 160 million years
Eroded by the time
Eland come in the fragile herds
Up the mountain slopes they climb
This is instinctive knowledge
Worn paths in the rock
Higher and higher to the summer grass
Gradually they flock

All the while packs of Baboons
Both intelligent and kind
Do very well on the rugged slopes
With their particularly clever mind
They can work out ways of finding foods
They can dig up tubers they
Manage their lives on this mountain
In a truly perfect way

Overhead the vultures fly
Through the thermals in the sky
Alongside jackals they are there
The carnivores not born to share
The eland are A perfect breed
They have the knowledge yes indeed
They follow the watercourses they
Rich higher ground where the sweet grass lay

The higher they go the colder they feel
Thats when the winds blow and soon reveal
Shocking storms and pouring rain
And nutrients washed away again
So higher and higher tHey wander on
Up the the top where nothing is gone
Where fresh rich grasses still do grow
Where electric storms rage too and fro
Lightening strikes are everywhere
Fire lifts flames into the air
Raging down the mountainside
Swallowing fauna in its stride

There are rivers flowing and gorges high
Waterfalls fall from the sky
Masses of rainbow mists do form
As the water sprays become the norm
Every creature has its place
More so than the human race
Its all laid out from history
And every soul is wild and free

ice rats they exist up there
But actually not anywhere
Else the only place they be
Is on the Drakenberg and we
Know the Servils think they taste
Pretty good though hunt with haste
The environment is a hostile world
With weather changes huge storms hurled
Full of ice and full of snow
It really isn’t a place to go

But the Eland they are a tough old bunch
And they can wander and face the crunch
Of ice and cold and sun and rain
And every year come back again
Its an unbelievable uphill climb
And they all do it time after time
Some fall by the wayside they
Will be scooped up by the vultures
Who play
Up in the heavens with peering eyes
To pounce and consume out of the skies

They bounce about their large curved beaks
Wet with blood feathered freaks
They can bite through bone for the marrow and
Digest the bone we must understand
In this hostile world these are perfect souls
Mean’t to be there in their roles
nature holds a perfect plan
Which is unknown by the likes of man

When they get to the top where the grass is green
They must make the descent for the summit scene
Is very unstable and soon the snow
Comes washing down when they must go
Their stamina and mobility
The Elands truly wild and free
Know the ropes and togetherness
And Nature is on hand to bless

They walk together and gradually
Get back down where the air is free
And the grass is once again so sweet
Just in time for them to eat
So the wheel of the year turns around
Their calves are robust
They can stand their ground
The grand old dragon quietly lays
Across the land in its basalt haze
A mythical picture of high esteem
Clearly Africa’s certain dream