Ancestors

Inspired by a program about mountain gorillas, never before seen footage of a large group playing in a previously undiscovered meadow somewhere deep in Africa was poignantly reminiscent of the moments I have spent with my own child. Got me thinking...

Carry me on your sloping shoulders
And I will try to grip on with my toes
My arms around your neck, crouched here, clinging
Leap with me from branch to hanging branch
As I swing and dangle, almost letting go
But not

Hold me in your loving arms
Clean the dirt from my eyes and ears
Wash the mud from my hands and feet
And the mites from my tummy
Hold and love me as your child, as your
Liquid eyed embodiment of self
As you

Play with me in the long grasses
Roll me on the ground and fling me
High into the air, catching me with long fingers
And confident hands grabbing me safely
As I bounce, as I tumble, never falling hard
With you

Save me as the bulldozers roar
Ripping at the trees that home us
Pulling at the roots that bind us to the ground
Scream for me, grab for me, I am falling
Through the dark branches, loose from you
Lost from you, into darkness, into nowhere
Gone Now

Reviews

[empiethree]

Wow, the last stansa realy moved me. It is so sad that humans are destroying the habitat of there own ansestors. You point out wonderfully how they are so much like us. Awsome work,
Empie.

[Salvatore Buttaci]

I like the imagery most of all. A well told poem.

Sal

[Tony Hwilka]

A great and interesting write.


Tony

[Riverdance]

Aww, this is so sweet! The motherly love of animals is sometimes better than humans strictly because they aren't overcome with petty human habits. Instinct keeps them loving.

Thanks for entering in the Move Me contest!

~Rd