What a raw and intense tribute to Africa!
I’ve never been but you put into words and song a powerful truth.
How do we aim to live with it. Just wow

This poem is powerful. Both a song of mourning and a call to remembrance. I love how the repetition and rhythm make “Africa” itself feel like a heartbeat pulsing through each stanza.

The imagery is rich with longing and pride, and the movement from loss to reclamation is deeply moving. It feels like a spiritual homecoming through language itself.

What a beautiful comment, RomaJ. Thank you so much. You might be surpised, but a few of the people in the writers group (mentioned above to Adelphina) expressed similar feelings. But they also tore through it viciously. This is the final version.

These lines are incredible.
Regards
James

Hi Redzone
I enjoyed how you put this.
How silence can be heavy and hard to escape.
Like it’s actively trying to sabotage you.
Killer ending amigo!

I love it when a poet covers all the avenues of a subject. Excellent writing here, Redzone. Good song too.

Silence has been called golden. I once referred to it as prismatic. But you perfectly captured how it can be cold and have a pressurized weight that pulls one down. Many can relate this, I’m sure

You called it one thing, she said it’s another. lol
The last stanza is true.

Life today just seems

to be one

long pose and a series

of less than

obvious juxtapositions ..

That’s very good Neville 🤘

Cleverly penned, Neville. Excellent write my friend. Appreciate you.

Damian

Different interpretations of the same things always make for interesting experiences. And frustrating. I enjoyed the flow of this. Oddly like the rain in the middle, capped by the brolly 😊

A little bit of this and a little bit of that, and between the differences lies a connection and that connection can lead to sooo many adventures and possibilities. How do we learn about each other? Isn’t it through those “juxtapositions” that we come to know and appreciate each other?? The key, I think, is not just the different translations, but that we are willing to listen and hear and learn what they are saying. I sometimes think we are a room full of “statements” and way too little “whys”. I think your poem points to what is possible, if we grab hold of those “juxtapositions”. Excellent writing Neville.

-Curt

“something
did always got lost in
translation .. ”
Something I can relate to, Differences can add excitements and fun but at other times it lead to misunderstanding. Anyway, it’s a truth that life is not one colour, it’s endless of colours, and that’s the beauty of it.