AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes

AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes
I love a sunburnt country / A land of sweeping plains / Of ragged mountain ranges / Of droughts and flooding rains / I love her far horizons / I love her jewel-sea / Her beauty and her terror / The wide brown land for me / ~ Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968)

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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Answer to a poem out of Africa ~ Chinua Achebe's "Butterfly"

Pic from ABC
Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe won the 2007 Man Booker International Prize for fiction, beating such celebrated nominees as Philip Roth, Margaret Atwood and Ian McEwan. But he also writes poetry. Here is Butterfly, one of his poems from Matt's Poetry Pocketbook. Matthew John Williams (a poet in England) is one of many who run websites to maintain a list of African poetry.
~

BUTTERFLY
Speed is violence
Power is violence
Weight is violence
~
The butterfly seeks safety in lightness
In weightless, undulating flight
~
But at a crossroads where mottled light
From trees falls on a brash new highway
Our convergent territories meet
~
I come power-packed enough for two
And the gentle butterfly offers
Itself in bright yellow sacrifice
Upon my hard silicon shield.
~
~
AFRICAN SOUL
Africa is not speed
But African power is growing
Africa is growing literary weight
~
The African soul seeks safety in cultures
In mystic, undulating beliefs
~
But at a crossroads
Where harsh light
From other worlds
Falls on brash new voices
Convergent visions
Clash
~
You come
Power-packed
With stereotypes
While the confused
African soul
Offers itself
Composed?
Composing?
In colourful sacrifice
On your
Politically
Electrified
Wires
~

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Powerful words...well done. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Granny Smith said...

I especially like those politically electrified wires. This is a fine example of using another poet's poem as a take-off point for your own. It an original take on the prompt.

Sherry said...

Love the take on "compose"..."with stereotypes" - that really hit me and "mystic undulating beliefs"..."convergent visions"...very strong, powerful choices of words here...right down to "politically electrified wires".

anno said...

I just woke up this morning, and still stumbling through the fog of dreams -- no coffee yet -- came upon your "power-packed with stereotypes" and felt jolted into some other kind of awareness. That last stanza is potent stuff!

anthonynorth said...

This is powerful. Poetry in the raw. Full of hope from despair.

Tammy Brierly said...

What a wonderful way to use the prompt. Both poems were powerful!

paisley said...

if you like african poetry you have to check out poefrika here is a link he put up recently to 52 africa inspired poems

Tumblewords: said...

Powerful words and thoughts. He is an excellent poet, as you are. Great post!

Anonymous said...

Wow, thank you for revealing yet another side of the prism to me!!! Such deep, provocative words both discovered and created!

Rethabile said...

Thank you for visiting. And thank you paisley for the mention. One of my favourite Achebe poems, that you pick up nicely.

Best
Rethabile

Medhini said...

It was a beautiful post. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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