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Joined: Nov 2013
Write a poem for National Poetry Month based on the topic described....rather, write a poem set in, pertaining to, or inspired by the given region, whether its entirety or just some part of it, as this year's prompts are going to be unified by the theme "Around the World" like last year's prompts were unified by the theme "Esoterica". Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. There are three levels of participation:
Bronze. Participated at least once.
Silver. Participated every day.
Gold. Participated every day, with all entries either being the same form (e.g., every one a sonnet) or being distinct forms (e.g., no two haiku).
Today's region is Central Africa.
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Deep River
Rift-born Congo powers across Equator
twice in tearing cataracts, forest called “dark”
by light strangers who were not even born there–
sojourners, only.
Muslim, Christian, all taught the dwellers how to
rule and worship as if they did not know these
things from forest and from their tribes and living
in the great Congo
Basin. Yet the visitors taught them also
scale: of ruling men in their millions, power
from the river’s torrents of water and men’s
jungles of mind.
Non-practicing atheist
Posts: 1,218
Threads: 500
Joined: Nov 2013
Today, 06:50 AM
(This post was last modified: Today, 06:53 AM by RiverNotch.)
Congo
One theory goes that sunlight, when absorbed
by naked skin, transforms into nutrition
that helps a man grow tall, and in the dense
rainforests of this land, such light could barely
enter the growth, the people turning "pygmy",
only in part through such a thoughtless name
they're often seen as less than people---some
would chain them up for work, while others even
as cattle may be butchered to be eaten
for senseless slaughter---better to remember
how in their vivid tapestry of tongues
they're fond to call themselves: Batwa, Bambuti,
Baka, Bongo, Bambenga, and Bakola.
finally balanced the one piece i wrote in straight-up trochaic xD
