Every once in a while a publication that has published one of my pieces goes under. The reasons are various, but we know funding has a lot to do with death in the art world.
Message in a Bottle Poetry Magazine came through for me in 2010 and published my poem Maasai Adumu at Keekorok. I wrote this poem soon after returning from a writing retreat in Kenya where I made a side trip to Keekorok Lodge on the Maasai Mara National Reserve for a safari.
MiaBPM is now defunct. As first rights are now gone for this poem, I thought I would share it here so it doesn’t slip away to someplace where I can never find it again.
Maasai Adumu at Keekorok
Their voices lift
like gazelle in fright,
swell your insides
to heights that burst
and bleed in rivers red.
Their screeches
hit that place inside,
cracks it into pieces;
that place you did not know,
you did not dream you carried.
Their dance beckons,
screams your name
and you are left in tatters,
feeling loss of life,
your old life slips away,
you lift with every jump and neon yelp,
to stretch yourself complete.
Their red shúkàs sway,
entice ancient longing,
scream to all who are present,
“We are, we are,
we are Maasai.”
I’m glad you resurrected the poem – and I’m glad I found it. It’s too good to stay buried!
Thank you so much for finding and reading my poem, Jan! I’m glad you enjoyed it!