--- title: Serengeti genre: verse id: serengeti toc: "Serengeti" project: title: Elegies for alternate selves class: elegies order: 20 prev: - title: The mountain link: mountain next: - title: The shipwright link: shipwright ... | The self is a serengeti | a wide grassland with baobab trees | reaching their roots deep into earth | like a child into a clay pot | A wind blows there or seems to blow | if he holds it up to his ear the air shifts | like stones in a stream uncovering a crawfish | it finds another hiding place watching you | Its eyes are blacker than wind | on the serengeti they are the [eyes of a predator][formal] | they are coming toward you or receding | a storm cloud builds on the horizon | Are you [running][] toward the rain or away from it | Do you stand still and crouch hoping for silence [formal]: onformalpoetry.html [running]: squirrel.html