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Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
I am a white African. Contradiction in terms? I think not. Sometimes my blog will be serious; sometimes sad; sometimes irreverent; sometimes witty; always my truth simply written.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Old African Elephant


vultures
hover
circle
hover

assessing
life span of
breathless
bull elephant
clinging to
tenuous life

release
looms
closer
closer

distressed
hyenas
giggle
nervously

as matriarchal
herds approach,
close ranks,
protectively
shielding
proud old bull

vultures
hover
hyenas
giggle


(All rights reserved.)



Metaphor written, with love and respect, about Dr Nelson Mandela - Madiba - when the media camped outside Milpark Hospital after he was admitted during the week of 28 January 2011.  Viva Madiba Viva.

In African fables the elephant is always the wise chief who impartially settles disputes among the forest creatures....  In the African fables, the elephant is usually described as too kind and noble, so that he feels pity even for a wicked character ...The Ashanti of Ghana relate that an elephant is a human chief from the past. When they find a dead elephant in the forest, they give him a proper chief's burial....
http://www.a-gallery.de/docs/mythology.htm

Hyena giggle:  The giggle is a high pitch, staccato sound that is not communicating a good time. In fact, it is commonly produced by distressed, or submissive, animals in situations where they are both excited and conflicted between approaching and leaving the situation. For example, giggles are made by submissive individuals at a kill waiting their turn while being chased away by higher ranking animals. http://www.acoustics.org/press/155th/theunissen.htm

9 comments:

  1. Thank you Mary. And thanks for commenting... so many people just lurk... and I can see they've been but they don't leave a footprint by way of a comment.... or even a click on great good soso bad...*weeps*

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  2. Excellent and thanks for filling in the metaphor for it makes the poem dimensional

    Glad to have you share with One Stop today

    Moonie smiles

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  3. Vivid use of minimalist language. Also thank you for the footnotes, which allowed for a greater understanding of the poem.

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  4. This reminds me of the poor baby elephant who went opposite from his mother in that Earth movie.

    Such a harsh life for so many, yet it is all birth and death, birth and death.

    And lovely words in poetry like this.

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  5. nice...elephants have such devotion...and it makes a great metaphor...love the back story...

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  6. @Leslie, @dustus, @Jannie, @Brian

    Thank you so much for visiting my blog and commenting. Much appreciated. I was horrified at the way the media were just waiting for a headline story while this wonderful man, aged 92, was lying in hospital. Always the story, never the compassion imho...

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  7. Very true to life. A nice One Shot entry.

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  8. Hi again Andy... thanks for reading and commenting.

    ReplyDelete