from I, Giraffe

Sous le pont Mirabeau
   coule la Seine(Apollinaire)

1 A Flood

I, Giraffe, 'camelopardalis',
once dappled, high on mimosa trees,
raft and dam this second flood:

they hammer feverishly beside me,
- Lilliputians with their guys and ropes -
tautening an ark against the ever rising Seine;
a dilute version of Gustave Eiffel's tower
emerges like Leviathan:
a scaffolding to save or break

my neck. Yesterday I lost sensation
in my feet but fret not for this heart
has pressure valves large enough
to lock down oceans of my blood.
...