A South African Prayer for the Congo

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OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

0 posted 2011-02-16 04:29 PM

A SOUTH AFRICAN PRAYER FOR THE CONGO
18 July 2005

Tiny child
sorcerers
who are demonised by the horror,
talk of dark night killings
and eating human flesh.

Nihilistic warlords darken
the days of the people.

Isolation
exploitation
jungle heat
and disease of body and spirit
reduce bare existence
to exactly that

and yet . . .
and yet . . .

the river flows
the forests flourish
and the song of the human spirit trembles
and grows . . .

Let the instruments of death
feel the pain
and bury the dead
with honour.

Let the maimed hearts
and bodies
find solace.

May Kurz’s
muddled, muddied
Heart of Darkness
be delivered
to the
Sunrise of Hope.
Let the cycle be broken.
Let all be resolute and free

for my humanity
cannot
be separated
from
yours.

Owl

faithmairee
Senior Member

since 2011-01-05

Posts 1441
Poe Haven, USA

1 posted 2011-02-16 04:33 PM

this is such a sad and profound poem....

this is my favorite line because of it's beauty and truth:

for my humanity
cannot
be separated
from
yours.

A truly remarkable poem, Owl full of such compassion!

There must be a poem in here somewhere.

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

2 posted 2011-02-17 01:18 PM

Thank you, Faith. I am glad you enjoyed it. That is my favourite part too.

Owl

Alison

Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-27

Posts 9318
Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!

3 posted 2011-02-20 12:29 PM

Your prayer is powerful.

quote:
the river flows
the forests flourish
and the song of the human spirit trembles
and grows . . .

Alison

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

4 posted 2011-02-20 12:32 PM

Thank you, Alison, for your lovely words. It needs to be powerful. The sitation is heart-breaking.

Owl

2islander2
Member Ascendant

since 2008-03-12

Posts 6825
by the sea

5 posted 2011-02-20 12:41 PM

Thanks Owl for sharing, I didn't know about that, it is sad and painful.

yann

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

6 posted 2011-02-20 01:30 AM

Thank you, Yann. I didn't know about it either, until I saw a documentary on TV. A famous quote from the Scottish poet, Robbie Burns comes to mind - "man's inhumanity to man."

Owl

Alison

Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-27

Posts 9318
Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!

7 posted 2011-02-20 03:35 PM

Isn't it terribly sad that it remains heart-breaking 5 1/2 years after you wrote the poem. Thank you for posting it - and in five years, please post it again.

Alison

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

8 posted 2011-02-20 05:39 PM

Thanks for your reply Alison. Yes it is terrible. What is also terrible is the number that are wrongly accused of being child sorcerers is far more huge than the actual ones.

Owl

easy1
Senior Member

since 2010-05-22

Posts 1209
Southeastern USA

9 posted 2011-02-22 07:24 AM

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/september/27.62.html

Thank you for your poem, OwlSA. Hopefully by the grace of God, and through the efforts of good people, things get better, are getting better.

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

10 posted 2011-02-25 12:56 PM

Thank you Easy, for the link. I have read it and saved it to my Favourites.

Thank goodness for the few who really are helping these poor victimised children who are either forced into these terrible practices or who are wrongly accused of being in them.

Owl

sasanka7
Junior Member

since 2010-11-17

Posts 30

11 posted 2011-02-25 01:22 PM

Nicely painted the horrified picture.
sasanka

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