In the Arms of Virunga
In Virunga’s hush, where the mist hangs low,
And the forest breathes in a softened glow,
A ranger walks with steady grace—
A guardian of a vanishing place.
From tangled green, a small hand came,
Not claw nor paw, but tender frame.
Ndazi reached with quiet plea,
And Andre knelt—no fear, just empathy.
She clung to him like child to kin,
Her heartbeat thudding soft within.
No words exchanged, no need for speech,
Just trust that crossed the species breach.
He laughed, she nestled, calm and near,
A moment carved from love, not fear.
Through trails they wandered, back to back,
Man and gorilla, one shared track.
But shadows stretch beyond the light—
Poachers strike in dead of night.
The forest thins, the silence grows,
And fewer paths the gorillas know.
Fewer than nine hundred hearts remain,
Each one a flicker in the rain.
Each life a thread in nature’s weave,
Too precious, fragile, to let leave.
So let this bond, this fleeting grace,
Be more than just a warm embrace.
Let it stir the world to see
What love can guard, what we could be.