Buzzards

forthcoming in Linea, Simian Press

Why is this scene still with me? Still vibrant. We had been bouncing through the bush. In Lucky Safari Tour’s broken down truck, passing through an area where the elephants were so close I couldn’t stop myself from pulling away from the side of the open vehicle. As we came down a dirt track where the bush opened up I could see a mass of black movement on the side of a hill. It was a corpse covered with so many buzzards there was no way to know what it had been. That’s not what stays with me. What I can’t forget is the two large buzzards walking side by side across the hill above, seemingly oblivious to the frenzied feast below. They moved, bent forward, their large black wings folded back behind them, their strut swaying side to side, like two Victorian gentlemen deep in discussion.