A lioness stretches out long, eyes closed, still
but for the in and out of breathing. Four flawless
cubs sprawl over her belly, press into her breasts.
They nurse and knead with baby paws. She turns
her body, raises one tawny leg, and the cubs
topple, mew like miniature bells, scramble,
search, reconnect – joined-again magnets.
We sit silent on the savanna. Our unmoving
roofless vehicle six yards from this august
animal, predatory carnivore, mother of
nurslings. In this moment I sense the kinship –
a summoned tingle deep in my breast, soft buzz
echo in the belly that announced the flow of milk.
She knows that too – nuzzling mouths latched on,
sucking with fury, and that fleeting serenity,
mine too. Her ears are never stopped.
She hears stalks of grass, their snapping.
© Martha E. Snell, 2021
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| Lioness with cubs, Ngorongoro Crater, The Serengeti Photo by Tony Young from Wikimedia Commons |
