Get Your Premium Membership

Mandela and Shoebills

Poet's Notes
(Show)

Become a Premium Member and post notes and photos about your poem like Chetta Achara.



Image: Shoebill courtesy of LIVESCIENCE
So suddenly it appears in my Facebook feed as if it has always been part of nature as if it always made its presence known in all the years of nature shows I've been watching surely a monstrous bird that eats baby alligators and kills its brothers and sisters is worthy of a one hour documentary but no it's as if it crossed a border into my timeline or did I cross into its like my brother remembers the news telling him about Nelson Mandela* dying in his prison cell never to become President of South Africa at all or shredding Apartheid apart is it all really just illusion and reality just a figment of time and space depending upon quantum physics and whichever string controls the puppet. *The Mandela Effect occurs when a group of people collectively misremember an image, event or other artifacts of pop culture like movies, books or television. Paranormal researcher and author Fiona Broome conceptualized the effect after discovering that she and others possessed strong, yet false, memories about the death of South African anti-apartheid activist while in prison during the 1980s.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2024




Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 3/3/2024 4:37:00 PM
I've heard about the Mandela Effect; in fact, I witnessed it while teaching high school English. A lovely and informative poem. Enjoyed it a great deal!
Login to Reply
Achara Avatar
Chetta Achara
Date: 3/3/2024 5:39:00 PM
I do think most "Mandela Effects" are simply cases of misremembering, however, my brother does remember news coverage of Mandela dying in prison. And about that bird. You would think that in my 60 plus years of living I would have heard about such an astonishing creature, but no, not one word until a couple of years ago when pictures and articles about it suddenly appeared everywhere! It just causes me to shake my head!

Book: Reflection on the Important Things