images from africa
Images from AfricaPosted: 24 Feb 2003
The following four poems were sent to us by Mark Schulman, who wrote them while stationed in Senegal, Africa.
African Winter
Dusty are the winds of Africa
heavy are the heavens that cry no more.
Sahara sand suffocates the mind
making no distinction between
sea and shore, right from wrong.
Rain does not make the garden grow
because there is no rain.
The land has failed the people
or, perhaps the people have failed the land.
Those who believe will olden before
they see the first drop of winter dew.
Dakar, Senegal
Restless Night
Under an idle African sun
a crusted layer of sleep casts shadows
over faded blue eyes
washed away by the afternoon tide.
The goddess of the sea has lost her lover
The fisherman�s net can no longer hold his dreams.
Dakar, Senegal
Baobab Tree
You know you have reached the end of the earth
when your eyes set upon the land of the Baobabs.
Here, the horizon stiffens and the air stagnates
as the winds have nowhere to go.
With each breathe ten thousand sand particles
blow towards a non-existent shore.
Gnarly are the branches of life whose
twisted arms reach for the sky and beg for rain.
Toubab Diola, Senegal
Niokolo Koba
Morning starts with the Baboon�s bark
Echoing throughout the valley.
The antelopes graze the field by day
forever aware of the dangers of the open bush
Night ends with the hyena�s cry
Searching in vain for fresh kill.
The lions� call is distant, but heard
The Elephants are strangely silent.
When the water hole dries up
and the sun goes down
The animals cease to exist.
Niokolo Koba National Park, Senegal
We welcome readers' for this section of our website. And while our Poems site is being developed, you might also like to visit the excellent BBC Nature Poetry Collection.
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