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Poem about Africa poem in selection of poems on various topics and themes, including America, Japan, Malawi and Guantanamo.
This Poem about Africa poem is part of the Genghis Lotus Poetry Collection, a selection of poems free to read online. The collection includes school poems, city poems, nature poems, war poems, cancer poems, death poems, and, additionally, other poems, assorted poems on various topics and themes, this being one of those other poems. The Genghis Lotus poems are hosted at two locations, genghislotus.com and zenvirus.com/genghis-lotus/. Webmaster for both sites is poet Hugh Cook, born in Britain, educated in New Zealand, and the author of, amongst other works, the fantasy series Chronicles of an Age of Darkness. |
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short poems |
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nature poems |
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war poems |
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Paperback Book or US $5 PDF file |
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Elephants Are central to my concept of planet Africa, A world found nowhere on my subway map. Africa has elephants And the elephants of Africa Are elephants of color, Not white. Regarding Africa, My concept is deficient But sufficient. Nowhere on my schedule is a roadblock Where I must prove my knowledge or be denounced. I can skate by on stereotypes, Complacently ignorant, With nobody shooting in my direction. Ignorance, In my experience, Never yet damaged the succulence of the peach. Chocolate Was never yet improved By either fact replete or theory perfect. My stereotypes are ignoble But do me no damage Down at the cholesterol level. Ignorance is not fattening, And does not cause insomnia. Kidney stones Are never the consequence Of pure dumb indifference to the facts. To stage a festival of the stereotypes, Then, My concept of Africa is that Africa Has AIDS, And elephants, And interesting entertainments like Ebola. It has machetes, Lepers, Diamond wars, And a mountain called Kilimanjaro Which is definitely worth a visit, Though seeing Annapurna Was quite enough for me. Lots of things in Africa Are in short supply. Food, water, money, socks, Ice hockey, Irish jokes, Cointreau And beluga caviar. This list is not exhaustive. Guns and ammunition,\ By contrast, Are a drug on the market. Familiar aspects of Africa, Things I would recognize, Would include rice, Golf, Airline tickets And ballpoint pens. I believe that Africa Is not devoid of ice cream, But this is supposition, Just a guess. When it comes to expert knowledge, I'm a zero. By way of pardon, I plead my case: My data damage Is symptomatic of a brain disease Called culture. I have, then, a medical excuse. And, on the level of reciprocality, While I know, at least, That Africa exists, Africa knows substantially less than zero About me. Footnote: my spellchecker, which has never been to Africa, prefers "Iola" to "Ebola." But I, having at least read THE HOT ZONE, overrule it. |
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May be photocopied for classroom use |
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