The beast

We heard screams from our neighbor

Screams of panic, screams of fear

That so hurriedly

Dragged us from our homes

 “Its wild cat after my only fowls!”

We came back home

Wondering why a small wild cat

Would scare the neighbor so

Another day, the screams again

This time there was urgency in them

Its like death was knocking

On his mabati door

“It’s a hyena after my goats”

We held our laughter and anger

One in each hand

And walked home in the cold

The screams, on another day

This time much louder, much tense

The devil himself must have visited

“Look, a leopard after my only calf”

It was gone

The man rolled on the dewy dirt

Crying that now he was done

We walked home confused

Not having found how to feel his pain

Or even understand if there was cause for any

Back home,

The kraal was empty

The pigsty was empty

The chickens hut, poor thing,

The door was on the ground!

We sat on the dew

Wondering

What if?

Karani Kelvin