Worn down by migration's perils;
Worn down by Neolithic spears -
They survived.
Though sabre-tooth gnashings stayed them;
Though Dire-wolves pack-savaged them -
They survived, they survived.
Though pursued by pharaohs for sport;
Though hannibalised by the armies of Zama -
They survived.
Through the ravaging of ivory coffles;
Through Tippu Tib's and Karamoja's lustings -
They survived, they survived.
Through Mutesa's and Lobengula's slayings;
Through the fauna annihilation of the Boers -
They survived.
Through King Leopold's bloody harvests;
Through trophy accumulators on safaris -
They survived, they survived.
Civilization had not yet flickered;
Its embers may have long faded -
They survive.
One thing to learn from them:
Inoffensive sagacity -
They survive, they survive, they survive.
Note 1: this is an imitation of the format of a beautiful poem “Trees” by Ondra Lysohorsky
Note 2: Tippu Tib, Karamoja Bell, Mutesa and Lobengula were all involved in the nineteenth century ivory trade.
Categories:
coffles, animal,
Form: I do not know?
Every fragile flower
Weaves a different sense of power
But the old gardener
His hands and fingers soil stained
Wears the same disguise
Over his disdain for the poor and trodden mass
The beleagured hair in relentless hands
The squirming bodies bruised and broken
The trying cross of love despised
They gathered the ignorant and stygmatized
And while sun glinted on shiny coffles
The wine cup is poured
To feast the figment of a frazzled mind.
Categories:
coffles, history, political, social,
Form: Free verse