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Vulture

Sudan 1993 and an ugly famine reaps its prey

malnourished bodies make it difficult to believe

that women were created from the rib of men

it is the most vulnerable who carry the weight

if you pardon the cynical pun on the grotesque


the lens is open and a vulture remains on guard

carrion in the making seems to die on the right

side of the frame and the wrong side of history

a little bird like face hands buried in minute hands

a grunting beak not afar as if smacking hungry lips


vultures have a serious problem with their reputation

but this particular images reaches down much further

into gut wrenching emotion of insatiable repulsion

for the record it is not the grim raptor who was ringed

but the little girl who wears a UN feeding station band


in all honesty the predator is not as close as it seems

a nearby manure heap serves its overfed companions

but the photo fails to escape the onlooker’s discomfort

however they wish it would fly away on prayer or wings

one vulture a Pulitzer Prize and millions of birdwatchers


although Kevin Carter the award winning photojournalist

followed all rules and was forbidden to touch anybody

for fear of spread of disease like cholera or meningitis

he was pilloried for only taking the shot and despairing

instead of well what exactly should the bird have told him


we are not privy to the fate of the iconic avian marauder

do not know what we would have done in such situation

maybe niggling bird song made us contribute to charity

but the other protagonist died in a red pickup truck with a

hosepipe and the girl’s parents told the press she’d survived


11th July 2020

Copyright © | Year Posted 2020




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Date: 7/26/2020 7:29:00 AM
I love how your muse makes me ponder upon such thoughts with depth. This is such a brilliant metaphor for the world where we live today Kai. Congratulations on your win. Blessings :)
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Date: 7/17/2020 8:33:00 PM
wow, this is very intelligently written, Kai. I seem to recall this somewhere in my memory, maybe in a Times magazine with the pictures in them for pulitzer prize winners or something like that. It's so sad. Now I am thinking of the Netflix show I just saw Stateless, about the refugees held for years in Australia, just held there hoping and hoping not to get sent back to torture.
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Date: 7/16/2020 10:28:00 AM
Lovely write Kai, your poems are always so different, so intriguing, so unique. Well penned, Blessings, Jennifer
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Date: 7/16/2020 4:28:00 AM
Kai, congratulations on your win in my bird contest with this wonderful poem, I recall this and I actually think I did a poem about it myself a long time ago _Constance
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Book: Reflection on the Important Things