Ankarana in Madagascar

Rapiers sharp
Great daggers of rock
Jagged and rugged
A monadnock
Protectively harbouring
Those now within
The natural protection
Of this limestone skin

Such forbidding cliffs
Pointing to the sky
So deftly dangerous
And remarkably high
Only the masters of walking upon
The unique lemurs
That range in on and on

With their extra thick padding
On fingers and feet
Beguiling souls
Who do so compete
These wide eyed acrobats
Have made their place
On this rocky escarpment
In this iconic place.

As well as the Lemur
The nile Crocodile
A relic of prehistory
Spends a while
Sat the mud banks of rivers
And streams
Soaking up sunlight
And weaving their dreams

A curious trait for the
For the crocodile hordes
Is the very extensive
Caves system, rewards
Are no doubt available to those who try
To find a fresh habitat under the sky

In the darkness
The solid watery way
Frequented by bats
And by humans who pay
Respect to ancestors
Lying in state
Dead to the world
In what is thevlong wait

But how can these reptiles
Who live for the light
Of the sun for their warmth
In their caverns of night
How do they manage
How do they feed
In the great darkly swathes
Which seemingly lead

Into the underworld
Far far below
The great limestone daggers
That clearly do grow
Such bizarre behaviour
Each menacing smile
Waiting for lemurs
To put on the style

To come for the water
Alive with such life
Shrimps mostly blind
In a new world of strife
Where the new squatter clan
Have invaded and lie
Waiting for those who seek water
Most high

As the brien eyes cime slurping
The waters they know
A leap into fortune
And a meal is on show
Speed and surprise
Can create for real
An unsuspecting sweet furry meal

Sun loving crocs in dark dreary place
Deepnin the caves
Without sun on their face
The masters of darkness
The fruit bats on high
Whose guano draws maggots
And fish now that ply

Cold blooded survivors
In these canyons beyond
The power of the sun
And no magic wand
To protect their prehistory
And their domain
In these great secret gardens
Of torrid refrain