River Otters

The joy of living

Is perfectly on display

Mammalian quintessence 

Pouring down muddy 

Slopes - evolution at play,

Each moment perfected

 Locust

Mildly reclusive, 

A quiet green grasshopper

Chewing in the wings

Like desert flowers

Blooms profusion after rains

A sudden orgy

Plague or bonanza?

Depends on your point of view

Human or locust

Moving plenitude

Devastating whole landscapes

Only fools obstruct

A  natural cycle

Ancient, older than the Bible's

Visitation from an interfering God.

Condor

Sailing the updraughts

Sky-fingerer, mountain comber

Lord of carrion

--

Anaconda

Nothing seems beyond

The sinuous reach of a giant

Anaconda's coils

Basking in the warm

Torpor of a tropical downpour

As streams flow under

The richly festooned branches

Of the ancient rain forest

Flourishing life high into the canopy

Where light and air conspire,

Surpass the realm of snakes

Weighing five hundred pounds