Shooting the Shoots

                                     

Up from the jungle rich with junk,

Clear in the cool of the May time punk

The rhino came with an awful roar

Straight for the doughty Theodore.

“Halt!” But the rhino came on fast;

“Fire!” Out blazed the rifle blast.

It shivered the rhino, head and foot

At fourteen paces; he died, the brute.

All day long through jungleland

Sounded the tread of the mighty band.

“Who slaughters a rhino of me ahead

Dies like a dog! March on,” he said.

Up rose the younger hunter then,

And pointed his camera at the men.

“Shoot no more shots without my permit;

Wait till I’ve shot myself,” said Kermit.

c. May 11, ‘09

Kermit Roosevelt (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was a son of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. He was a graduate of Harvard University, a soldier serving in two world wars (with both the British and American Armies), a businessman, and a writer who explored two continents with his father. He fought a lifelong battle with depression and alcoholism, ultimately leading to suicide while serving in Alaska during World War II. After attending the Groton School, he enrolled at Harvard. In 1909, as a freshman, he and his father (recently out of office as President)—both of whom loved nature and outdoor sports—went on a year-long expedition in Africa funded by the Smithsonian Institution. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Roosevelt

(safari photos - http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/758550328)