Gaily into the dancing arena he came,
swinging his fleshy hips in unison.
Gracefully, he danced,
sweating his body out.
"Why are they so gloomy" he wondered
as he looked at the lion, the hyena and giraffe on stage?
Can't they enjoy life as i do?
Can't they rejoice in their youth?
The other folks in awe watched,
nodding their heads lazily in resonance to the antelope's energetic jig.
At the same time however they wondered,
why dance so energetically?
in the first minutes of the dance?
yet the dance as it were, would end in the early morning hours.
Would it not be profitable to dance some slow salsa together?
-some snaily mwomboko together?
Or better still -some ohangla together?
That the morning would find all in the arena?
Jerkily the antelope jumped.
With its feet raised high,
above all to see
The head; he nod as though he did not want it
-as though it was too heavy a load for him to carry
The tongue-lashed out and in so quickly,
that the toads and chameleons on stage were left in envy!
The voice- so deafening as he sang,
that the elephants in the house were left amazed.
How could one, with a body so small produce such a gigantic voice?
How could they get the energy to do so much at the beginning of the party
yet all the way, to the morning the party would go?
As the night aged away however, things happened;
drowsiness and tire came to the antelope.
He felt like collapsing.
His body so weak, his voice so hoarse,
his hips so achy while his feet so heavy.
All he could was drag himself to the chairs and on them crumble,
Slumber then took the best part of him
He snored, he fart... he was such a disgrace!
He who once was the party's spectacular watch,
was now an eyesore !
The other animals still watched
As the antelope; head hang in shame tottered to rest
" Could he not have been slow. Slow but steady", they murmured as they danced the night away.
By James Njenga.
