Those stripes
Irregular blacks and whites
When they all move together
For the lions, for the cheetahs
It’s so hard to chose just one
From a sea of gently curving backs
Only one can be snapped and gashed
by strings of dripping pearls
One by one at a time
Different ivory renders blood red stripes
Flesh hanging on bone trees
Stuck up there between Heaven and Earth
Dragged down into the dry grasses
By crawlings and slitherings
Hauled further aloft by dark wings
Bald heads with sharp beaks
Out and everywhere
Go those stripes
Ribboning free
With freedom for all