Jungle danger - Bruce Levitan

The ermine softness of the leaves
Brushing against his arm.
The air, warm and moist
Like an inhaler full of balm.
Menace seems to lurk
In every shadow of apparent calm.

The sun strikes a sword blow
Down through the canopy.
Greens and browns illuminated
In a vivid colour panoply.
What lies waiting under the roots
Or behind the bulk of the tree?

In the loud silence of the jungle
The man works at his task.
Behind him grows the evidence
Of his activity like a painted mask.
Does he feel these sensations
As he daubs the yellow marks

That show the next
     tree
           to be felled?

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Bruce Levitan (born 1955) England (born: Kenya)