Dear George,
The meerkats are among my favorite exhibits at the zoo. They’re always busy and active, diving in and out of their burrows, checking out the world about them. I think they enjoy watching the humans as much as the humans enjoy watching them. Here are a few meerkat poems, dedicated to their happy spirit.
Love,
Dave
My Meerkat Family
Here you have my family.
Meerkat Mob Number Two Thousand Four.
That is our mother standing at the rear.
We Meerkats are called mobs.
though the British call us gangs.
I am right near the middle.
They say I have a serious look.
but it doesn’t really matter
because all Meerkats have serious looks.
We are not separate beings
but interchangeable pieces
in the Great Meerkat Collective.
We look alike
think alike
act alike.
We are not as quick as cheetahs
as majestic as lions
as strong as rhinos.
But we are brave
and determined
and when the apocalypse arrives
as it surely will
we will be the last remaining species on earth
because we stick together
and prize the group above the individual.
Humans could learn a lot from Meerkats.
* * *
A Meerkat Primer
Not just anyone can be a Meerkat.
You have to be tough
also smart
very quick on your feet
able to scramble through a four-inch bolt-hole.
My family has lived in the desert for eons.
In July, one hundred and twenty at high noon
so we retire to the depths of our burrow
where it’s pitch black, cooler.
We spend the remainder of our time
hunting for food.
Butterflies and beetles, moths
maybe a lizard or a baby bird
if lucky, a small snake
an egg or two, some cactus seeds
even a scorpion.
I get new brothers and sisters four times a year
usually after a rainy season
sometimes six or seven pups, sometimes three or four
We Meerkats live to age thirteen
longer than squirrels or skunks or rabbits.
There are half a million Meerkats
in the world today
five times as many Meerkats as giraffes.
* * *
The Sentries
Raza and I are sentries
posted at our station dawn to dusk
rain or shine, dust storms, lightning.
Ever vigilant
we don’t allow ourselves to blink.
Meerkats have deadly ancestral enemies
the hawk-eagles
the bat-eared foxes, the jackals
the spotted snakes with their long fangs
and poisonous venom.
My responsibility is to watch to the north
where the eagles fly in
while Raza looks south
for the foxes and jackals.
We have keen vision and keen hearing
and at our slightest warning cry
our family members dive into their burrow holes
ready to enjoy another Meerkat day
* * *
What Meerkats Think
Meerkats think all the time, you know.
Not so much about life’s meaning
but more practical stuff
like the dozens of things my mom has told me.
Keep out of the midday sun
Mark our territory
and defend against the rival mobs
Always take care of the baby pups
Drink the water when you come across it
The juiciest beetles hide under rotten logs.
And every day, of course, I think about our enemies.
How I might snatch an eagle right out of the sky
or twist a desert snake into knots
Gang up with my sisters and brothers
to chase away a hungry jackal.
And most of all I think about Lavinia
the sweetest Meerkat I’ve ever seen
who lives with her sisters across the great valley
and hopefully one day will be my bride.
I wonder if Lavinia ever thinks of me.
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