PAUL HERTELENDY

A POET'S ADVENTURES FROM THE WILD SAVANNA OF BRAZIL’S SOUTHLAND

EDITOR'S NOTE: Paul Hertelendy is currently
returning from a trek into the wilderness of Brazil's Mato Grosso de Sul.
His new poems are being sent to us from the road, as he travels.

ORNI STUD

The lanky macho man with four-day beard Could be a desperado from a Schwarzenegger film In his fatigues, advancing up a hidden winding river Via quiet mobile outboard. Stepping firm upon the muddy banks, ignoring sunning ’gators, He deploys his can’t-miss weaponry--high-powered scope and tripod-- Fervent in his fearless quest To spot and name elusive rainbow-colored neotropic birds That nimbly flit on forest branches. Deft extracting electronic hand-helds from a foot-deep pocket, He bewitches them, this modern-day Tamino*, With recorded bird-calls Logging IDs in his fliptop survey book While trudging ever farther in the wilderness preserve, Executing missions others shun in trepidation. He´s the stellar ornithologist, And friend, you’d best not take his scope of action lightly. --Paul Hertelendy Pantanal Nature Preserve, Brasil

*Note to the operatically deprived: Tamino is the tenor with the magic flute in the Mozart opera of that name.

©2005 by Paul Hertelendy. The illustrations use components from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA. This column first posted May 23, 2005.

Paul Hertelendy is a critic with the San Francisco Bay Area arts website www.artssf.com. To visit his website, click here: PAUL

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