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| Goat Country Kerry O'Connor @skyloverpoetry |
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| A Praise Song Kerry O'Connor |
A Praise Song is a poem from Skylover: Collected Works, which I have illustrated.
The Tuesday Platform at The Imaginary Garden is hosted by Sanaa today.
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| Goat Country Kerry O'Connor @skyloverpoetry |
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| A Praise Song Kerry O'Connor |
Praise for conquering? Disturbingly sad but you painted a sharp picture.
ReplyDeleteIs this the voice of conqueror or conquered though?
DeleteMy goodness this is good!💖 I read about praise song to find that it's one of the most widely used poetic forms in Africa; a series of laudatory epithets applied to gods, men, animals, plants and towns that capture the essence of the object being praised. That being said, this is a phenomenal piece of writing, Kerry! I love the illustration and am intrigued by "resuscitating language by stirring sticks in the dirt of prehistoric graves." It makes me think of the animal nature of humans as Darwin mentioned human evolution in his Origin of Species saying; "The light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history." Which brings me to question- Can humans truly transcend their animal nature?
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for your in depth reading of this poem, Sanaa. I am so happy you looked into the praise song. There is a title, 'Imbongi' for the praise-singer himself. I am very pleased that you felt the satire, of the piece. It seems the world is filled with false celebration to things unworthy of praise; language fails, sometimes, to explain how far humanity has fallen from grace, or how close we are to our devolution.
Delete"A praise song for our deliverance." We are in need of that. I can feel the scorched earth, the taste of drought. It is already here.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are always close to defeat, one way or the other.
DeleteThis has such a strong post apocalyptic feel of it. I keep wondering if being saved was ever worth the price of the slaughter. The goat to me works as a symbol of evil, and I do get a sense that those delivered will have to cope with their guilt...
ReplyDeletePoor old goat! What did he do wrong? Haha! In Africa, goats are prevalent roaming through the scrub, so I think that is where i got the image from initially.
DeleteI get such a sense of a failed civilization that is dark and hopeless. Well done Kerry!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to be so dark and hopeless all the time though.
Delete:)
Although this is about the past I get the feeling it is still about dystopian futures
ReplyDeleteThe past is the future, after all.
DeleteMakes me wonder who the priests are...who the slaughtered sheep were...and above all...who the gods are that we are told to praise...
ReplyDeleteYes.. these are he things I wonder about too.
DeleteIt makes me ponder the question - do we interpret the God(s) in the way we want to hear it or are we listening to what they really want... Of course, your voice and drawing (!!!) are amazing - I'm sure this is steeped in African imagery and myth of which I know very little - I found Sanaa's comment helpful!
ReplyDelete