Satou

Satou was a loner
And an isolated soul
Without a name for most of his life
Though clearly in control
Of what he did and where he went
He was very much alone
He had his own identity
And the authenticity he had sown

Tsavo East was a massive park
Where he could hide away
Lots of cover and dense bush
And the rains kept folk at bay
He was a really big guy
A half a century he
Had knowledge in that brain of his
A tusker good and free

Aware of his attributes
With his tusks big and long
You would feel his air of confidence
He looked immensely strong
But aware that they would mark him out
And as we know a day
Came when they came after him
And just blew him away

Poachers men of violence
Who brought their turmoil to
The unbridled paths of Tsavo
To do what they did do
Fired their poisonous arrow
And hit Satao in the flank
Then waited till the great soul died
Which really has to rank

With something out of a horror story
The great beast his last breath
As that toxin ran around his blood
And eventually found death
And then they set to work to hack
His tusks off and his face
It must have been a blood bath
A demons foul embrace

Skulking in the shadows
Preparing to take down
A truly handsome animal
And force him just to drown
In his own blood and thunder
Their ugliness his pain
Clearly an obnoxious act
By the murderously insane

The poison wholly noxious
Causing much distress
Harrowing and punishing
A martyr yes no less
Slaughtered for his ivory
And left in darkest stress
He must have cried his eyes out
At the contempt of man
In fact he had seen once before
How it all began

Back a very long time ago
Their tusks were seen to be
Valuable to human beings
Who carved them earnestly
China and the Far East
Caused seas of blood to run
Reaching every point on earth
Underneath the sun

Satou’s great tall figure
Would have loomed out of the dark
The Pachyderms expression
Its how they made their mark
But up against these morons
Black marketeers at best
Totally insensitive
To any type of test

An arrow pierced his left flank
The noxiousness was real
The drama of that moment
Despite his will did deal
A predetermined agony
The virulence so strong
Calamitous and ruinous
And altogether wrong
and for what some measly trinket
Perhaps a piano key
Some useless ornamental god
To gather dust and be

Forever a real reminder
To those who know the score
How many bold young pachyderms
Have perished and what is more
Suffered in the process
Mutilated so
By the most corrupt and scandalous
Traders as we know

Satou became a victim
Just over a year ago
3 suspects were arrested
Clearly tHey were low
Life they all are actually
Paid to murder they
Take the biggest risk of course
For the local pay

Its the big boys back in China
That are racking up the cash
The
Mr Big’s around the world
Who of course know they are flash
And the buyers steeped in arrogance
Who cant believe their eyes
When they hear the price of ivory
And see raw tusk size

We have to be so sorry for the Elephants
Today
Who suffer still in their thousands
And are being made to pay
A price too high already
For this vile and violent trade
Which is murdering the elephants
A truly ugly trade

And the spot where Satou died
Is still marked with his sun bleached bones
The toxins rained into the ground
With all their over tones
Plants are still not growing
Some insects though still be
Circling the open grave
Working laboriously

We all must learn the lesson
Of the corruption around a bout
Among the so called officials
Most must be in Doubt
Whilst lately poacher s are being caught
And some are being killed
Shot on sight is the sentence
Ensure their blood is spilled

Its the only way to maintain the herds
Kenya needs to be really working overtime
On protecting them we see
May be 600,000 still alive today
But so many are dying all along the way
It does need the death penalty
To dissuade the locals who
Otherwise may still get involved
Which some want to do

There was a great affection
For Satou and a real sense
Of loving and of caring
Where wild life is now tense
Regard is growing for them all
The erupting power of fear
Is getting to a lot of people
That live and work around here

Each year we should remember him
For he died in vain
50 years his investment
And many years of pain
Of wondering how long he could last
Up against those who
A lot of them as corrupt
as hell
Who do what they want to do
And if this goes on at the pace it is
There will only be a few left
In children’s picture books
Thats if you ask me

The real ones they were sacrificed
For the ivory bangles where
People drink their coca cola
And offer up a prayer
Doom and gloom surrounds us all
No matter how we try
To save them with our animal rights
For Still so many die

The markets are established
The corruption it is there
Despite the cries of anguish
There are poachers who share
The greed the cash the hopes and fears
For their own family
And they will kill us till we are no more
Until we are free

Of all their scourge and evil
Of their corruptive force
Who come despite the guards who will kill
They still will hurt the source
Thats the way of man un Kind
Money is his god
And he will turn his face from us
For he is that kind of sod

Lets you down and turns away
And suffers the karma come what may