Great Keeper of the Virunga

Great black apparition in the jungles thick Soft loving bellows heard, rough articulation Fairly a glimpse may been seen today As your magnificence dwindles to nothingness From a volcanic region you originate Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda is all there is left To your once prolific society Pushed back, murdered and mauled- Misunderstood, fierce beast you were called. A woman hazed that craze, lived with you Now the names are frozen in time- with understanding Yet- you are still disappearing. Dian Fossey gave her life to your cause Her death was monumental to your survival. Great gorilla of the mountains Gentle creature, with admirable family ties- May your future endure, with the 700 left of you, Endangered, mortally impaired Why can't more see through your eyes? Creature so close to human kind. *Dedicated to the highly endangered Mountain gorilla. A. Green