there he lies in cool African shade
ear-cuffed with strings of music
feeling lost in the world around
caring less about everything else
a wood-pecker stands on his back
pecks neck, mouth, vertebral column
whatever is happening is irrelevant
because the boy is deep asleep
a snake crawls and culls by his side
then puts its head near his mouth
but he cares not about the danger
because the boy is deep asleep
wind blows dust and trash all over
white smart shirt carries all filth
but he cares not about events around
because the boy is deep asleep
thunder and lightning slashes the sky
everything on earth’s surface shelters
and he wakes up wet, dirty and late
tears roll down his cheek wide awake
his wailing echoes the wilderness
ear-cuff is throw away in flight
but it is too late, too late to survive
but sleep is not there to rescue him
and a sparrow laughed at him singing;
“Go back, sleep, wise boy sleep all sleep.”
Quizz with broad hints for poets
the nose bridge
an ear sans fold kneeling on a slab (sometimes
an upward curling lobe)
two upper ears sans lobes both folded into each other
two narrow noses meeting isosceles arms one leg
crossed on the right arm flat down
an upside down mirror-image interrogating sans point
an upright eye with fish tail tuft
left shoulder and loosely-dangling arm
upper and lower lips intertwined upright
knee-cap over bow leg
vertebral column sliding into hole
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2014
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.