MARULA:

Knotted rot, gnarled, twisted & gnawed,

Lying cracked upon arid forgotten ground,

Pecked by beak, pawed by beast & beetle bored,

And by every living creature, sniffed, & found,

By every colourful insect & little worm crawled,

Being chewed, slurped, spewed, sucked & spat,

By all creatures big & small, one & all, mauled,

Tree shaken, falling to the ground with dusty splat,

Beneath the searing heat, sticky, sweet & oozy,

Watching, the baboon & ancient elephant lie in wait,

While in the fizzing sun, fermented fruit turns boozy,

And beasts in their tipsy element sup & gaily sate,

Marula of the bush, dusty liquor of the African tree,

Ambrosia of the veldt & nectar of the drunken Gods,

Where beasts pay homage & kneel on bended knee,

Then into oblivion they go & staggeringly plod.