Wildlife (Margarita Engle)

We entered the rain forest on horseback, followed by a shimmering blue morpho butterfly the size of my hand.  On foot, we hiked up a muddy trail of slick stone steps and protruding roots, until we reached a rustic wooden ladder attached to a massive tree trunk.  Above us, the crown of the forest created an illusion of green sky.

From a tiny, hanging metal platform high in the canopy of branches and leaves, we took turns learning how to leap, before speeding along a "zip line" cable strung between treetops, shrieking at the thrill of gliding two hundred feet above the moist forest floor.  Timid and hesitant, I moved too slowly, and soon found myself dangling, trapped in midair, a flimsy harness and a few metal buckles the only things keeping me from plummeting down to the mulch of rotting leaves far below.

While I waited to be rescued, wild creatures emerged from hiding, invited by my terrified, stunned silence.  Suspended in blue time and green space, I hung like windblown laundry on a line, while all around me, animals stared.  I glanced up into the highest branches, feeling strangely comforted by the curious eyes of two brilliantly hued toucans, a white hawk, and a troop of reddish gold spider monkeys.

Oblivious to my plight, the rest of the botanists moved on, still gliding and shrieking as they zipped along the series of cables that led from one elevated platform to another.  They paused briefly on each level to gather a few rare orchids and bromeliads, reaching only the nearest branches, taking whichever flowers were easily available, before continuing the zip line adventure.  Meanwhile, I remained stranded where I was, swaying and silent, returning the sympathetic stare of a smiling, upside-down sloth.

Afterwards, I said nothing when the brave, noisy shriekers kept commenting on the scarcity of wildlife in such remote, primeval rain forest.  I had not collected a single flower.  If I boasted about the toucans, hawk, monkeys, and sloth, who would be quiet enough to hear me---who would be attentive enough to believe that all sorts of animals had calmly watched the strangely human, wildly primitive acrobatic display---listening to each feral scream, hearing the screeches, yips, and howls?

Comments

[Aurora]

I really enjoyed this one.

[Matt]

Excellent

[Robert]

Enjoyed.