The weekly Slice of Life Challenge is at Two Writing Teachers.
Hello slicers, I created a month long challenge to write poems with words link to nature that have double ‘ll’s in them. A list can be found HERE.
Today’s word: GAZELLES
Definition: any of numerous small to medium graceful and swift African and Asian antelopes (Gazella and related
Thomson’s Gazelle, know as Tommies and Springboks
The name gazelle is thought to come from the word Ghazal which means quick and elegant. It’s also a poetry form that I want to try but not today.
The
stotting*
of springboks
when cheetah appear
the herd’s fast, elegant escape
on the high African grasslands
creatures who prefer
eating grass
beauty
grace
© 2015 Jone Rush MacCulloch all rights reserved
*stotting: running and jumping high to escape predators.
Jone Rush MacCulloch 
GAZELLES
Horn to horn jousting,
Elongated strides,
Avoiding captors,
Accelerated rides.
(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.
There is an elegant movement in this poem, Jone, like the gazelle.
You’ve accomplished so much in this shirt piece. From form to style. I’m impressed.
Love the shape and content of your gazelle poem, Jone. Cool fact about the etymology of ‘ghazal’/ ‘gazelle,’ too.
I learned another new word from your poem today–stotting. I wonder if I can work it into conversation tonight? I can always point to this poem with those center lines bounding away over the grassland.