Written piece
an African childhood revisited
Sue Guthrie
South Africa
About this piece
A short poem written in a style similar to ee cummings. It reflects my own childhood memories that are ignited through a bird call, a sighting of antelope, pungent scent and a lion's cough of greeting, rendering me 9 years old again.
an African childhood revisited
childhood
revisited when I hear
a grey laurie’s cackled crackled cries and see
black tipped heels threading impala into
knitted protective weaves of barely visible
flanks and flicking ears
pungent grassy dung dries in soft powdery dust
that puffs soft as silk between my toes
the coughing lion contact call
that is not a roar
but a welcome
and I’m only
9