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Poetry

Please read and enjoy these submissions!

Remember to take note of the code (poe1-poe39) and to vote here for first place, here for second place and here for third place.

poe31:THE WAKE

Earlier that morning two elephant bulls had locked
in mortal conflict.The young contender
had walked away victorious.
The vanquished now lay lifeless - a great mound
of tough and wrinkled hide,dun as the Addo veld

From the high safety of our four-by-four
we watched, as the living members of the herd
withdrew,from the watering-hole upon our left
their sensitive trunks and, turning receptive heads
towards the recumbent form upon our right
began a slow procession. In twos or threes
or sometimes singly, they crossed the road before us
with measured, purposeful tread to form a ring
about the fallen giant. Slowly they circled
that massive form, the young ones seeking shelter
beneath the sheltering bellies of their mothers.

Spell-bound, we sat and watched
as with delicate,tentative trunks
the moving circle in uncontested order
gentled the still form of their recent dead

Then I found myself thinking on Auden's
'Stop all the Clocks'
while the wondering eyes of my childhood
saw once again my father
halt in his hurried stride
to doff his hat and stand with head bowed low
as the glass-topped hearse drove slow
on its way to the waiting grave

and who would dare to say
that the spirit of that great one
was not eased in its final passage
as the quick paused in their living
to wait upon the dead


NOTE: We were fortunate enough to witness this moving sight in the Addo Elephant Park during a visit there in May


The incident described in the poem took place on Wednesday, 17 May, and we were told by our guide that it was a 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience. We were so grateful to have been there to see it.

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