Inappropriate Language?

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Sign outside Safety Beach Sailing Club, Mornington Peninsula
~
Rockin Chair Writers prompt #5
A ~ Tell us what's really on your mind
~

Over the past week, inappropriate language has really struck a chord with me. No, it's not swearing or anything like that. It is language that acts as a cue (intentionally or not) for rather alternative, misleading, confronting, dubious, inappropriate? ideas. I'll start with the one that could be unintentional, and then point out the one that verges on cruelty.

1. Liquid Church is a new face on the Mornington Peninsula (I have now been informed it has no connection with the U.S. same-titled version begun in 2001). When I first saw this sign on the roadside, I immediately thought it must be a new way of celebrating "Happy Hour" round the bar by the sea, drinking a few "liquid ambers" or two. After all, there is a bar in the nearby Safety Beach Sailing Club where the group meets. After my pic hunting walk, as soon as I arrived home, I Googled Liquid Church. Of course, all was revealed. But I still believe that the sign sends mixed messages. I am sure I am not the only one who "translates" it this way! The sign badly needs some succinct motto under the logo to ensure it doesn't inspire some tacky jokes!

2. The word BOMB sends shivers down the spines of most of us. So who would write this word on some traveller's luggage?
From The Courier Mail, A LARGE bag with "BOMB" written across it passed through Qantas check-in and security screening for oversized luggage at Brisbane domestic airport yesterday, the Transport Workers Union said.
While most reports berate the slack screening at Brisbane airport and the poor security profile Australia presents to the world as a result of this incident, no one seems to be be reporting what kind of person would do this and for what purpose? This brazen act, flinging a challenge to authorities, could be funny if the implications were not so serious!
~


Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Safety Beach Sailing Club, viewed from the top of the new, "arty" road tunnel
~
In liquid landscapes
Wild free spirits free flying
Long for some air space
Parachuting bombs away
What a bomb of an idea
~

Horse Sense

Pic by fuzzyfelt ~ Some Horses ~ on Deviant Art
~
3WW Prompt #LXXXIV ~ empty highway ignored
~
I want to treasure
This precious moment with you
So much to tell you
So litttle time till cold beasts
Bulldoze our slice of heaven
~
So much to tell you ~
Remember those chilled mornings
When I stood alone ~
You thought I was lost in sleep
But I was holding our world
~
I needed our dawns
Misted with scents of dewed hay ~
I needed our scenes
Swirling with brisk morning runs
Or just dreaming by fence lines
~
I needed middays
Ambling for leafy shadows
And soft afternoons
Till a brazen, cold highway
Our slice of heaven ignored
~
Sunsets trouble me ~
They close our daylight
Heralding darkness ~
Too soon the waves of night-time
Will invade the shores of day
~
But let us not dwell
On questions and future fears
Flamed with empty hope ~
Let's wander to my old tree
And hold our world together
~

What future? ~ for Sunday Scribblings and Poefusion

Pic from Deviant Art ~ firefox13 ~ Future of our Planet??
~
This poem is in response to 2 prompts ~ The future of the Planet on Sunday Scribblings and a via negativa poem on Poefusion.
~

Cities are not cold and lifeless
Smogging nature's lifeblood ~
They host the gathering of multifarious minds
Like a corroboree
Celebrating the glory of a killing
~
Urban shapes are not real ~
Planning is merely the spark
Of accidental circumstance ~
Shapes grow in chaotic profusion ~
Mini dreams
Of real estate moghuls
Elasticising
Molder and mayhem ~
The height of surreal
Optimism and decadence
~
Urban shapes are not unreal
They are gods of reality
Projecting
Pretence and pretext
As pseudo reality
~
For some
An aerial view
Of our cities is
Ugly ~
Is that a sign of an
Ugly future?
Or is there a beauty in
Urbanity
Not tabled in
Mausoleums
Yet
~
Cities are not a symbol of death ~
Urban shapes are not real
But they are not unreal either
~
Progress is not sadness ~
Virtual worlds are not real
But they are not unreal either
~
The planet
The future
Hangs
In perfect

Paradoxical
Oxy-
Moronic
Misruled
Balance
~

Poetry and Teenage Boys

This is the newly established Australian Poetry Centre at St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. It was launched June 7, 2007. The building is Glenfern, a property belonging to the National Trust of Australia.

While I admire that now Australian poetry has a tangible heartland, I wonder if it will reach beyond academic realms?

The fledgling website claims:

The APC will develop and provide products and services, such as:
a national journal of high quality poetry, articles and reviews
a comprehensive library of Australian poetry
workshops and seminars
poetry competition activities
comprehensive website information and services
educational and promotional materials
support for reading tours by Australian and overseas poets
support for small-press publishers, including co-operative marketing and distribution

Certainly, the vision is grand. But is it too grand? Maybe grandiose? Will it merely perpetuate the academic art of poetry, or will it reach out for new poetic worlds?

I am a high school teacher on a quest to get Year 9 boys interested in writing. I know. Sometimes that is quite a challenge. But I am finding poetry, believe it or not, is a key.

Currently, we are considering war. We are looking at the conditions of war rather than purely the history. I have given them glimpses of children involved in war plus a range of personal war stories. From this study, boys are churning out sensitive, impassioned poetry unlike anything they have written before. They are asking questions and seeking answers in their poetry. Many unconsciously step into the mature realms of psychology and philosophy. Prose writing never seems to spark the same intense reactions.

The boys enthusastically share their poems. And want to write more.

This brings me to my own questions. Where is there an outlet for the small poets? The poets beginning their journeys with some stunning thoughts just slip away into a nonentity Google ranking?

There are so many alternative poets out there who don't glow with academic prestige. Blogland reveals so many struggling to be known through writing prompts. And those who read their poetry are generally other struggling poets. (Yes, I count myself as one of these poets!)

If only there could be an internet heartland for poets. If only a search for Australian poet bloggers revealed a list of Australian poet bloggers. I have tried to find poet bloggers from other countries too. The only one revealing a central website, would you believe, is Africa.

If only there could be an internet heartland for student poets.

What a great encouragement this would be to enrich and polish student writing.

Surely, this is worth a thought. We wail about the widespread illiteracy in this world. Why not use the internet world to do something about it!

Australian Poetry Centre? Back to you!

William Wales Reporting

News job plan for real royal reporter - a headline from today's "The Age". Work experience for Prince William in the armed forces may be followed by some fourth estate experience in the newsroom next year.

Of the British papers, it appears the "Daily Mail" has some rather prickly views of William's father, Prince Charles; "The Independent" and "Financial Times" sidestep the royal arena. Prince Charles' press officer edits "The Times" and"The Daily Telegraph". That leaves "The Guardian" without some royal connection or disconnection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But I wonder, are the royal groomers perhaps looking too close to home? If royal schooling is iced with a "Down Under" experience - at Timbertop for Prince Charles - why not give work experience a royal flush Down Under??

~

Agreed, royalty and its trappings are not held in high esteem in Australia. But conversely, neither is royalty completely dismissed as an oddity either. After all, we have followed closely in the footsteps of our own Tasmanian Mary uplifted to Princess of Denmark. She is a pretty headliner in the news that we love to follow. We may not like the British royal rule of our country, but we still like to watch the growing years of Princes William and Harry. We all adored their mother Diana. It is as if we like to keep a motherly eye on her children for her.

~

In that spirit, I believe we would welcome William Wales, reporter. He would find a greater media comfort zone here than back home in London. We would enjoy firstly his youthful views which happen to be, secondly, from a royal perspective. And all the time, we could not help but see Diana in him.

~

Further, it would give Prince William some breathing space from the British media. Maybe distance may make the media heart grow fonder and a little more tolerant?

~

Now, I wonder which newspaper? Perhaps "The Australian" may be the politically correct choice! It is a national voice! I can see it now: "Prince Will Wire Home"!

Michael Leunig has the last philosphical word on Australia Day

Leunig cartoon attached to his article Our flagging enthusiasm ~ "The Age" 26.01.08.

Many Australians regard their flag and song and national day, not so much with awe, but rather, a casual, bemused affection, in the way that we may regard an eccentric uncle or a peculiar spinster aunty. They are ours but they are not us.

It is surely the old people who are the fruit of this land — the bitter and the sweet; ripe as they will ever be and soon to drop off the twig. You can meet them and see how life in this country has rendered and ripened their souls and know something profound and otherwise unknowable about our land. It's the character of the elders in any land that says it all and cuts through the delusional propaganda, the inflated ideologies and the ephemeral catchphrases about the national psyche. You may work it out for yourself. Those old people can be full of surprises.

David Mowaljarlai travelled the country and spoke urgently and eloquently of his concern for the wellbeing of white society, which he could see was suffering from a loss of spirit and an incomprehension of the land in which it lived.
His integrity and wisdom often included an important word from his Ngarinyin language: a word that could be very useful to this country in these depressed and anxious times. I use it often.
"Yorro-yorro" is the word — and it means "everything standing up alive" or "the spirit in the land that makes everything stand up alive".

It's a beautiful Wandjina country word to use on Australia Day — or any other day, for that matter. David Mowaljarlai gave it to us and left us with it.
When you've got yorro-yorro you don't need a flag.

~~~

But I have only shaved a little of the skin of the article. To experience the full mystery of its spirit, follow the link above!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ In the shadows of the recent passing of "The Bulletin", Leunig seems to be the last voice linking the old literary bush worlds with the parade of modern media. He also walks in the footsteps of more ancient drums!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you walk in the footsteps

Of ancient drums

The rhythms

Will live

In you

~

When you see

And protect

The joy of earth

Nature will cool you

In times of heat

And wrap you in warming suns

When the air

Seems cold

~

When you feel

The seasons of the skies

You will always know

The time for planting

The time for

Harvest

The time for dancing

In life-giving rains

~

When you walk in the footsteps

Of ancient drums

The rhythms

Will breathe

Through you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Australian closure - just a day later

When The Bulletin's young, enterprising proprietors threw open the shutters in 1880, most Australians lived in the country; 20 years later, they had shifted to the cities. The poet A.B. "Banjo" Paterson recorded the change by collecting and publishing the old bush songs treasured by generations of Australians.

MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday, 24 January 2008
ACP Magazines Chief Executive Officer, Scott Lorson, today announced that weekly news and current affairs title The Bulletin with Newsweek would cease publication from the current issue of the magazine which went on sale on 23 January 2008.
The Bulletin is Australia’s longest running magazine and was launched in 1880.
In the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures, The Bulletin had 57,039 in sales (Sept 07), which is down from circulation highs of over 100,000 in the mid 1990s. This trend is consistent with that experienced by many leading weekly news and current affairs magazines globally and is somewhat symptomatic of the impact of the internet on this particular genre.
“This is a sad day for all of us at ACP Magazines. The Bulletin has been an institution in Australian publishing and has provided its loyal readers with the best quality, in-depth news and current affairs analysis in the country. The Bulletin has often set the political agenda, broken many important stories and won many awards for journalism over the years,” Lorson said.

And the final publication was a special Australia Day edition.

~

Ref: Wilsons Almanac - 1856 JF Archibald (Jules Francois Archibald; b. John Feltham Archibald in Warrnambool, Victoria; d. September 10, 1919), Australian publisher who in 1880 co-founded (with John Haynes) The Bulletin, which published a great many of Australia's writers and artists.
Like many Australians of his day, he was fascinated by all things French, changing his name from John Feltham to Jules Francois; he even wore a French goatee beard although they were not fashionable. Under Archibald's sole control, and with AG Stephens as his literary editor, The Bulletin became Australia's leading outlet for poets, cartoonists, short-story writers and comic writers. Henry Lawson was one who 'Archy' of the 'Bully' took under his wing as a young writer.

In his later years, when he was an inmate of Sydney's Callan Park Lunatic Asylum for the Mentally and Criminally Insane, Truth magazine wrote of him (1916, following a Bulletin attack on the recently deceased Truth publisher, John Norton): "The crank used to go tearing around Sydney buying diamond necklaces for flash barmaids: he used to imagine he was Moses, and was writing a new set of commandments; he drove his wife to drink, he behaved like an orang-outang at the Zoo, and, generally speaking, was as freaky a freak as was ever permitted out on probation from a lunatic asylum." There was some truth about "Archy's" wife, the drink and the asylum.
In his will, he made the two bequests by which he is best remembered by the general public: funds for the Archibald Fountain in Sydney's Hyde Park, which he specified must be designed by a French sculptor, and the Archibald Prize for portraiture, now Australia's most prestigious art prize ...

~

~ And today, it was reported that people were stranded on Luna Park's Mad Mouse. Curious! Now I am told by a reader it happened in Melbourne! But all I find of Melbourne's accident did not occur today, but earlier - December 28 when there was a power blackout! Yet TV news flash (no details - just a line) said Sydney! Curioser and curioser! Yes! There are 2 Luna Parks! One in St Kilda, Melbourne and one on the shores of Sydney Harbour near the Harbour Bridge! Too hasty reporting? Hmmm Perhaps tomorrow will bring more enlightenment!

~

And I heard from some voice on another TV report, I hated travelling after 9/11. Thankfully, I wasn't actually watching at the time. I just heard the distant voice.

~

There is a sense of losing

Sense~

As if the safety ropes

Are slowly being

Cut

One by

One

~

It would be so easy

To throw up the hands

In utter despair

And scream

A soundless

~

WHY!

~

But

I remember a Queen Mum

Of some old England

Far across

Commonwealth seas

Who stayed

Unflinching

At the heart of

The bombing

~

Perhaps

I could pretend to be

Some royal mum

~

Then

Perhaps

As fortune

Smiles

A little

Again

The pretence

Will fade

And

There really will be

A commonwealth

Of hope

~

There MUST be

~

Australia Day

Is just a tomorrow away~

And her spirit

Must smile

For her birthday!

~

P.S. LATEST LATE NIGHT NEWS! China is experiencing its fastest economic growth in 13 years! So it's China! It's good news at last! (Does little happy dance!)

Troubled souls live in Africa

Rainbows are a little thin
And scarce
In parts of Africa ~
Especially for animals
Especially for animals
In Tanzania
~
Their songlines are burning
At an alarming rate!
~
Poachers
Nasty
Devious
Poachers
Are rampantly killing
Chimpanzees
Zebras
Buffalo
~
The Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest
Is simply
No more!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbows are a little thin
And parched
In parts of Africa ~
Especially for refugees
Especially for refugees
In Tanzania
~
Their bloodlines are burning
At an alarming rate!
~
Refugees from war-torn
Burundi
Rwanda
The Congo
Are desperate
Poor
Lost
Hungry
Starving
~
Starving
At an alarming rate!
~
Blindly
They trade
Cook
Consume
~
Crippled
Hungry
Ugly
Poachers
With or without a cause?
~
Only the rainbows know
Their heartbeat
Their soul
Is simply
No more!
~~~
~In response to Refugee link to wildlife decline – BBC News – 22.01.08 The UN says there are more than half a million refugees in the country, mainly living in camps near the western border. The border is also home to important wildlife refuges such as Gombe National Park, which achieved international fame as the site of Jane Goodall's pioneering studies of chimp behaviour...In 1994, when intense ethnic fighting in Rwanda drove an estimated 600,000 refugees into the area of Tanzania surrounding Burigi National Park, wildlife in the park declined sharply.
Buffalo numbers fell from about 2,670 to just 44. Roan antelope declined from 466 to 15 and zebra from 6,552 to 606, while the estimated population of 324 Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, a type of antelope, vanished completely.

** Modified version added to Writers' Cafe.

Panning Tibet

Panning

May mean

To scour

A landscape~

Swinging

Colours

And shapes

Into one

Arching

Perspective~

But panning

May also mean

Sifting

Out

The gold

Drifting

In beds

From old

Seams

~

And then there is the

Pan Himalayan

Railway line ~

Very new and fresh

On the corporate

Blog roll

~

World's highest train route?

Or lowest scam?

~

BBC reported

The railway snakes for 1,000km across 'the roof of the world'

~

Think about it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In response to "Tibet railway firm seeks listing" - BBC News - 20.01.08

China Railway Construction, which built the rail link to Tibet, plans to list shares on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets, state media have said.
The firm will issue 2.8 billion shares in Shanghai and at least 1.8 billion in Hong Kong, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
It plans to use the cash raised to expand construction capability...The high-altitude rail link between China's western Qinghai province and Lhasa opened in July 2006.
In the past, Lhasa could be reached only by plane or after a long, arduous road journey.
Hailed as an engineering feat by Beijing, critics fear it will undermine traditional Tibetan culture.

Further details to be found on an earlier article "China completes railway to Tibet" - BBC News - 15.01.05. China has announced the completion of the first railway line to Tibet - one of the world's highest train routes.
The pan-Himalayan line climbs 5,072m (16,640ft) above sea level and runs across Tibet's snow-covered plateau - dubbed the roof of the world.
Trains travelling on the line will have to have carriages that are sealed like aircraft to protect passengers from altitude sickness... The workers who built the line had to breathe bottled oxygen in order to cope with the high altitudes.

And in an earlier article still "China's drive to transform Tibet" - BBC News - 6.09.04 - A Chinese flag hovers in front of the Potala palace, the imposing hilltop landmark which once housed Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
A monument - supposedly to China's peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951 - is also clearly visible from the Potala, an ever-present reminder of China's political dominance...Mr Fan is the visible face of China's economic juggernaut, and sees himself as performing a public service.
"Everybody is coming here to build Tibet. Today's Tibet is richer than it used to be, and there's no question of us stealing jobs from Tibetans," he said...
But at the site of the new railway which will connect Tibet to the outside world, there are few Tibetan faces.

Fire and Ice

Once upon a time

Many long

Midnights ago

Plumes

Of ash and

Gas

Sheered

A canyon

In ice~

~

Sulphurous

Secrets

Became

Locked

In chunks

Of

Solid

Thick

White

~

Aeons of snow

Passed~

Burying

Static

Electric

Dreams

~

Until

Human guilt

Drove

Cadets of dreams

To nature's stage~

Hoping

Quizzically

To find

A play

With alternate

Answers

~

(Even a "Waiting for Godot"

Re-run

Would do)

~

But sometimes

Answers have a habit

Of getting lost

In more

Ridiculous

Questions

~

For all they found

Was a mountain~

A volcanic mountain~

Like a rainbow serpent~

Pulsing

Echoes

Echoes

Of some very

Ancient life

~

Fire

Beneath

The ice

~

They left

Empty handed

~

The only sign

Some monumental

Wisdom

Passed by

Was the river

Coursing

Through veins

On bland brows

~

Snaking

Melting

Smiling

~

In response to "Ancient Antarctic eruption noted" - BBC News - 20.01.08

Scientists have found what they say is the first evidence of a volcanic eruption under the Antarctic ice sheet.
They believe the volcano erupted about 2,000 years ago, and would have burst through its ice covering, producing a burst of steam and rocky debris...The thickness of ice above suggests the eruption occurred just over 2,200 years ago..."We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years. It blew a substantial hole in the ice sheet, and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose about 12km into the air."...The Hudson Mountains lie close to Pine Island Glacier, one of the West Antarctic glaciers whose flow has accelerated in recent years...But volcanoes which are not conspicuously active at present may also be generating heat under the ice..."This complicates things. However, it cannot explain the more widespread thinning of West Antarctic glaciers that together are contributing nearly 0.2mm per year to sea level rise."

A little Mummy Bunny wisdom

Kittens climb on Summer the rabbit - Aberdeen
Summer
Is a good season
To feel
Wanted
By sunlight~
Desired
By cool surf
Running to meet you
Sinking
Footprints
In pools
Of silken sands
~
Summer is a good reason
To know
There is always love
Even for
Castaways
Abandoned
By Winter
~
If only WE believed
There are no
Berlin
Or Gaza
Walls
In
Nature's reality!
~~~~~~~~~~
In response to Kittens 'adopted' by pet rabbit" - BBC News - 19.11.07
Veterinary nurse Melanie Humble took the three-week-old kittens to her Aberdeen home.
The kittens seemed to think Summer the rabbit was their mother and began to climb all over her and try to feed from her..."Summer is five months old and she's gigantic. It is lovely to see them all together."...

It is dark tonight in Gaza

It is dark tonight

In Gaza

~

Even sanctuaries

Are cold

~

The air

Feels

Like stones

In ancient ghettos

~

The power

Of one

Simmers

Like a disgruntled

Chunk

Of kryptonite

No Superman

Cape

Visible~

Not even

The handshake

Of a white flag

~

But while

Ignorant

Rocket powers

Mess

With eternity

Ordinary

Walkers

Kindle light

In phoenix wells

And parade

Stars

In their

Thousands

Upon

Thousands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In response to Gaza City plunged into darkness - BBC News - 20.01.08

Gaza City was plunged into darkness after the plant's turbines stopped.
Israel's closure of border crossings amid continued rocket fire from Gaza has brought the delivery of almost all supplies, including fuel, to a halt.
But Israel, which provides 60% of Gaza's power, says the territory still has sufficient fuel stocks..."At least 800,000 people are now in darkness. The catastrophe will affect hospitals, medical clinics, water wells, houses, factories, all aspects of life."...Several thousand residents staged a candle-lit march through Gaza City after the blackout...Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said the border closures were intended to apply pressure to the Palestinian authorities to stop militants in Gaza firing rockets at Israel.

Africa - Half Storm - Half Rainbow

Zimbabwean artwork auctioned
as part of the ZATA project
for AIDS - Colorado 2006.

New Year is a time to
Invent a new soul
~~~~
January 2008 -
Zimbabwean Gallery's
Half century -
Time to pull out of
The storms
And seek
African colours
Even
Half a rainbow
Will do
~
Mixed joys
Stumble
From a paintbox
On stage
Before
Bemused eyes
~
Frames
Wait
Patiently
~
Inside the bread
A work of art
Cringing
In womb warmth
Struggling
To counter
Birth pangs
Pressures
And new
Harsh
Lights
~
January
Promises to be
A month of
Baking
And
Painting
~
Working to
The gentle drum beats
Of risks
And breaths
In spaces
Beyond
The walls
~
Of
In
Near
Beyond
~
Zimbabwe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In response to the BBC article on Zimbabwe's National Gallery's 50th Anniversary - 7.01.08
TSVA (new) an interactive, cutting edge show conceived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe is now in full swing.
Consisting of six elements and realised by an entirely Zimbabwean team of artists and curators, the show disrupts the usual presentation of finished works to an audience at an opening as most of the work is being made live in the gallery throughout this month.
~
This month will see more pairing of conceptual and conventional artists like wire\bead craftsmen, batik artists, paper makers, and crotchet artists.
This in situ dialogue of practical and conceptual energy aims to explore the questions of who and what defines art in an African context and seeks to create hybrid works that define the line between art and craft.
"Bread", conceived by Pip Curling with the idea that "bread is an emotive issue, art should be an emotive issue. . . bread feeds the body, art nourishes the soul" saw her bake the first loaf of bread in the gallery last month.
Inside the bread was a work of art and this month she will be painting a canvas in the gallery related to this highly charged subject matter.
Four other painters will join her in this process of baking and painting before the end if this month.
~
Three conceptual artists, Chikonzero Chazunguza, Gareth Nyandoro and Virginia Chihota have been challenged to investigate the importance of the Gallery by exploring the spaces outside the building.
Three installations will be realised during January and beyond with accompanying performances, that touch deeply on contemporary issues while pushing the idea of "The Museum of the Third Kind" as " . . . a place of passion . . . not grand or majestic but committed to the drum of risk taking". (Renzo Piano)

*Posted "Poetry Showcase" - - 20.01.08 under AuraGem

Happiness to me is an elusive sanctuary. Sometimes it is available. Sometimes not. It is a tidal water world. The purpose of life is to choose to sail a boat, swim, or drown. - Gemma Wiseman

Fractured memories of a child soldier

Africa can be a jungle

Of dominoes

Numbered with wars

And shifting sands

~~

Such dominoes

In the hands of a child

Can only be

Dynamite

But a child

One who God hears

An Ishmael

Blasting murder

With murder

Must be on a quest

Out of sync

With conventional

Celestial calendars

~

Ishmael

Can only hear

His God within

Bereft

Of

Namaste

~

And we

Numb

To any

Aethereal Gods

Dare

To judge

And sentence

This child

With the dates

Of an earthly calendar

~~~~~~~~~~

NOTES: In response to the article "Twist in the Tale of a Child Soldier" - "The Australian" - 19.01.08 - ISHMAEL Beah is the former African child soldier turned best-selling author whose account of his time as a killer, driven by the memory of his murdered family, has sold more than 600,000 copies around the world. His searing tale made one television host's "heart hurt"...But a bizarre set of events, sparked by a West Australian mining couple, has revealed flaws in Beah's tale, A Long Way Gone.
The young author, who appeared on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton in July last year and is a UN advocate for war children, appears to have been two years older when he went to war. He would have been not 13 but 15. And instead of him spending two years in the Sierra Leone army, it would have been two or three months.
His story took place during the civil war that ripped Sierra Leone apart between 1991 and 2002. Tens of thousands were massacred, more than a third of the population was displaced and thousands of children were drafted into the rival forces, the government versus the ideologically-driven Revolutionary United Front.

~

~*~ Posted also on HubPages under AuraGem + Posted "Poetry Showcase" - 20.01.08 under AuraGem.