Hippopotamus

The great gray beast

Wandered in the desert

Searching for

That which he

Had long despaired

Of ever finding again

 

Sounds like me I say

As I sit beside

my dear dear friend

And she looks at me

With a moment's smile

And a flashing of

Her smirking tongue

 

Aye indeed

I would have thought

That this was me

As I wandered endlessly

In the scorching heat

No respite found

 

But never was I

That great gray beast

In reality

I just chose

To be like him

So is it any wonder

That was how it was

For too many years

 

But now as I

Sit beside

This dear dear friend

We together laugh

At me

And share some time

Happy for what we are

 

Charles Petrie