Gazing across vast distances,
traveling in a group called a tower,
reaching over and above with that blue-black tongue
and six-foot-long neck.
Tallest land animal alive at twenty feet high,
so awkward and impressive all at once,
forever a beautiful testament to
grace against gravity.

Thank you for teaching us

to always stick our necks out–
to reach for the fruit
at the top of the tree,
and there is no choice
but to be who we are.

Thank you for making sounds

that us humans cannot hear
and grunts and moos we can hear.
We want to understand you.
Maybe we do.

You are living proof
that a life of standing tall
is always possible,
and when we move together

we are not a crowd
we are a tower.