Brother, I’ve seen some/ Astonishing sights

The crown jewels? Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne. April 2011.

I’ve always been more of a tiger man than a lion. Tigers are bigger, stronger and all-together more fearsome than the frequently lazy lion. They’re better swimmers, better hide-and-seekers, and don’t palm their parenting responsibilities off onto others. How the lion became the signifier of strength and nobility, I’ll never know!

Brother, I’ve seen some, Kabir Kabir

Brother, I’ve seen some
Astonishing sights:
A lion keeping watch
Over pasturing cows;
A mother delivered
After her son was;
A guru prostrated
Before his disciple;
Fish spawning
On treetops;
A cat carrying away
A dog;
A gunny-sack
Driving a bullock-cart;
A buffalo going out to graze,
Sitting on a horse;
A tree with its branches in the earth,
Its roots in the sky;
A tree with flowering roots.

This verse, says Kabir,
Is your key to the universe.
If you can figure it out.

Keeping an eye on the wild dogs. Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne. April 2011.