"bushmen" poems - Hello Poetry

I. I wonder if you remember me. You said, “Go out. Find me that universe, and take these with you.” Talismans. Good luck charms like Mozart and fifty-five ways to say hello. Navajo night chant, Peruvian wedding song, diagrams of ribcages, gender, bushmen and bones. Gifts for a people you said I may never meet. It has been thirty-four years and I wonder if you remember me. II. Less and less, we call across the distance: sixteen-point-twelve hours between transmissions and I wonder if you remember me. I nearly kissed Jupiter for you, nearly skimmed Saturn’s bright rings, but you said, “Go out. Find me that universe,” so I sail out into the dark for you. I keep a photo of you, twenty years ancient, to keep away the quiet between your calls: pale pixel, distant dot, my origin receding, I wonder if you remember me. III. I know now, you never meant to call me home. Dutifully, I will go out, but I wonder if you forget me. I am still here, sailing.

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Oct 18, 2011

Oct 18, 2011 at 6:23 PM UTC

gabriel-gadfly

Voyager I and The Blue Planet

I. I wonder if you remember me. You said, “Go out. Find me that universe, and take these with you.” Talismans. Good luck charms like Mozart and fifty-five ways to say hello. Navajo night chant, Peruvian wedding song, diagrams of ribcages, gender, bushmen and bones. Gifts for a people you said I may never meet. It has been thirty-four years and I wonder if you remember me. II. Less and less, we call across the distance: sixteen-point-twelve hours between transmissions and I wonder if you remember me. I nearly kissed Jupiter for you, nearly skimmed Saturn’s bright rings, but you said, “Go out. Find me that universe,” so I sail out into the dark for you. I keep a photo of you, twenty years ancient, to keep away the quiet between your calls: pale pixel, distant dot, my origin receding, I wonder if you remember me. III. I know now, you never meant to call me home. Dutifully, I will go out, but I wonder if you forget me. I am still here, sailing.

40

Harsh, desert scenery Haven, from lush misery Forced by Impi, so greedily This, our new sanctuary Glitter, in desert sand The cause, of moonlike land No more men, with bow in hand No more happy feet, stamping sand Scenery, violated by man and machine A hole, were last buck was seen Spiritual pickings, now so lean White man’s god, o so mean Before white man’s god, we now bow We ask the spirits, “How can you allow” Is this, the final raw? Are we, disappearing now? After a visit to Jwaneng, a diamond mining settlement of De Beers in Botswana, I was impelled to write this poem to revolt against the injustices being committed against the Bushmen in Botswana. The Bushman are forcibly being removed from there desert land to make place for diamond mining activities.

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Dec 12, 2009

Dec 12, 2009 at 7:18 PM UTC

jeanlbouwer-1

THE BUSHMAN’S PLIGHT

Harsh, desert scenery Haven, from lush misery Forced by Impi, so greedily This, our new sanctuary Glitter, in desert sand The cause, of moonlike land No more men, with bow in hand No more happy feet, stamping sand Scenery, violated by man and machine A hole, were last buck was seen Spiritual pickings, now so lean White man’s god, o so mean Before white man’s god, we now bow We ask the spirits, “How can you allow” Is this, the final raw? Are we, disappearing now? After a visit to Jwaneng, a diamond mining settlement of De Beers in Botswana, I was impelled to write this poem to revolt against the injustices being committed against the Bushmen in Botswana. The Bushman are forcibly being removed from there desert land to make place for diamond mining activities.

17

When is the final round? Conception Semesters Birth Sit Crawl First step Crèche Primary Secondary Bachelors Honours Masters Junior Senior Manager Lust Love Family Unemployed Gainful Pension Plan Experience Memory ∞ When is the final round? Field Farm Fort Tack Gravel Tar road Rural Remote Urban Wood Rock Concrete jungle Developing Established Revitalization White Multi racial Black Conservative Liberal Decadent Pretoria Tshwane Tshwane Metro ∞ When is the final round? Bushmen Dutch British Colony Union Republic Native Settlers Previously disadvantaged Undiscovered Developed Commercial Subsistence Commercial Corporation Oppressed Equal Masters Apartheid Democracy Socialistic rule Logical Confused Insane

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Oct 23, 2010

Oct 23, 2010 at 1:48 AM UTC

jeanlbouwer-1

The Final Round

When is the final round? Conception Semesters Birth Sit Crawl First step Crèche Primary Secondary Bachelors Honours Masters Junior Senior Manager Lust Love Family Unemployed Gainful Pension Plan Experience Memory ∞ When is the final round? Field Farm Fort Tack Gravel Tar road Rural Remote Urban Wood Rock Concrete jungle Developing Established Revitalization White Multi racial Black Conservative Liberal Decadent Pretoria Tshwane Tshwane Metro ∞ When is the final round? Bushmen Dutch British Colony Union Republic Native Settlers Previously disadvantaged Undiscovered Developed Commercial Subsistence Commercial Corporation Oppressed Equal Masters Apartheid Democracy Socialistic rule Logical Confused Insane

29

You want to travel You want to walk You want to feel and grasp the world you want to stare at it be one with it with your own eyes with your own body with your soul with me I ask why It has to be me Are you searching for something Or is it because I'm free Either way I want to know So we both get an answer from the unknown I once read Sir Laurens van der Post's Story about 'Hunger' He said: "The Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert talk about two "hungers" There is the Great Hunger and there is the little hunger The Little Hunger wants food in the belly The Greater Hunger the greatest hunger of all is the hunger for meaning" And you said: Maybe that's why your feet wants to dance and run for meaning Maybe that's why my mouth wants to taste and eat for meaning Maybe that's why you feel that your heart has hole in it You said that you you long for me you miss me I stop from walking I think about what your feeling Maybe that's what we are Occupants of Time Traveller for meaning Constantly searching Never ending expedition In greater lengths of life We don't wait for the morning light we change ourselves in the afternoon of our life and in the evening we'll realize everything has its own meaning I was thought to never forget where you came from cause after all the running and searching for everything we'll all go back from the beginning where everything means nothing and nothing means everything to life Eventually what we have will be take away from us What we are will fade and return to dust After nothingness is a life waiting to be lived You said that life without love has no meaning and said your definition of love is me and the world is our safest place and beside me is your favorite space That's why you want to give the world a dance it deserves A dance with me Music will come rushing from our spine our souls intertwine our feet will take its path our hearts will bring happiness to the everything You said that you need me and you're pessimistic you choose to soak yourself with pain with sadness not fighting back But don't forget about what I said to you that I am here for you You'll always have my back when life pushes you down sadness starts to be pour to the brim give it to me Let's drink it together You're the Yin and I'm your Yang and together we'll not fall down Life may bring you down but I am here for you Life may take you down but I am here for you Life may pull you down but I am here for you Don't forget I'm here Don't forget I'm here I'm here for you Life may bring your down Life may take you down Life may pull you down but I'm here for you Life may break you down but I am here for you

0

Feb 14, 2019

Feb 14, 2019 at 4:04 AM UTC

raquezha

Life may break you down but I am here for you

You want to travel You want to walk You want to feel and grasp the world you want to stare at it be one with it with your own eyes with your own body with your soul with me I ask why It has to be me Are you searching for something Or is it because I'm free Either way I want to know So we both get an answer from the unknown I once read Sir Laurens van der Post's Story about 'Hunger' He said: "The Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert talk about two "hungers" There is the Great Hunger and there is the little hunger The Little Hunger wants food in the belly The Greater Hunger the greatest hunger of all is the hunger for meaning" And you said: Maybe that's why your feet wants to dance and run for meaning Maybe that's why my mouth wants to taste and eat for meaning Maybe that's why you feel that your heart has hole in it You said that you you long for me you miss me I stop from walking I think about what your feeling Maybe that's what we are Occupants of Time Traveller for meaning Constantly searching Never ending expedition In greater lengths of life We don't wait for the morning light we change ourselves in the afternoon of our life and in the evening we'll realize everything has its own meaning I was thought to never forget where you came from cause after all the running and searching for everything we'll all go back from the beginning where everything means nothing and nothing means everything to life Eventually what we have will be take away from us What we are will fade and return to dust After nothingness is a life waiting to be lived You said that life without love has no meaning and said your definition of love is me and the world is our safest place and beside me is your favorite space That's why you want to give the world a dance it deserves A dance with me Music will come rushing from our spine our souls intertwine our feet will take its path our hearts will bring happiness to the everything You said that you need me and you're pessimistic you choose to soak yourself with pain with sadness not fighting back But don't forget about what I said to you that I am here for you You'll always have my back when life pushes you down sadness starts to be pour to the brim give it to me Let's drink it together You're the Yin and I'm your Yang and together we'll not fall down Life may bring you down but I am here for you Life may take you down but I am here for you Life may pull you down but I am here for you Don't forget I'm here Don't forget I'm here I'm here for you Life may bring your down Life may take you down Life may pull you down but I'm here for you Life may break you down but I am here for you

142

When will this world be a better place? Why are human beings destroyers, villains, and evil? Peace bores them too fast that they have come up with guns and swords and knives made by hatred and smeared with blood and venom. But why? Why can't the man next door be a brother for life? Why can't we ignore the colors and see humanity and joy? Why can't we uplift the poor and live with the blacks and whites and reds and Bushmen without wondering who they are or where they come from? I cry each night thinking of hope, singing songs with the planets I create in my head, spreading love to doves and puppies and cows and goats. Because this world has a lot of information, piled up with knowledge and innovation but flat in implementation. I yearn for joie de vivre, for heaven on earth and for happiness in little huts and simple things and broken hearts. Can we do this small act? Can we all be one? Can we stop alienating heroes and heroines who can bring change and innovation, ideas and strategies that can propel us forward? Can we compromise and work together as the sun and the moon who whilst the sun gives us hope at the day, the moon promises serenity as the night ends. Can we, just this one time?

0

Jul 13, 2017

Jul 13, 2017 at 3:51 AM UTC

salma-abdulatif-yusuf

Can we?

When will this world be a better place? Why are human beings destroyers, villains, and evil? Peace bores them too fast that they have come up with guns and swords and knives made by hatred and smeared with blood and venom. But why? Why can't the man next door be a brother for life? Why can't we ignore the colors and see humanity and joy? Why can't we uplift the poor and live with the blacks and whites and reds and Bushmen without wondering who they are or where they come from? I cry each night thinking of hope, singing songs with the planets I create in my head, spreading love to doves and puppies and cows and goats. Because this world has a lot of information, piled up with knowledge and innovation but flat in implementation. I yearn for joie de vivre, for heaven on earth and for happiness in little huts and simple things and broken hearts. Can we do this small act? Can we all be one? Can we stop alienating heroes and heroines who can bring change and innovation, ideas and strategies that can propel us forward? Can we compromise and work together as the sun and the moon who whilst the sun gives us hope at the day, the moon promises serenity as the night ends. Can we, just this one time?

15