WORDS OF A PANTANEIRO

Some of them come here and they say, the Pantanal
Is disappointing, because they come here thinking
You can switch on nature like you can a TV set.
They don’t know you cannot make demands on nature,
It will give what it can, you must take what it offers.
So you don’t see pumas or anacondas or toucans.
But perhaps you will be lucky and see the red or blue
Macaw or monkeys or coati or the anteater.
You cannot fail to see caiman. And even if you saw
None of that, you should know that to lie in a hammock on
An afternoon too hot for dogs is part of the Pantanal,
A part of the life we lead, the world that you have visited.



the pantanal (somewhere within) 26.09.04