antelope
bat-eared fox
caracal
dik dik
elephant
fish eagle
gazelle
hyena
impala
jackal
kudu
lion
mongoose
Nile crocodile
oryx
panther
quagga
rhino
serval
topi
uromastyx
vervet monkey
wildebeest
xerus
yellow baboon
zebra
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NaPoWriMo Day 18 to write an abecedarian. I am on safari now and have seen many of these.
Do you hear the lion roar?
Black maned big boy
walks across the plain
looking for dinner
I hope it’s not me
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NaPoWriMo Day 13 prompt from the serious to funny?
look inside of me
no punctuation or caps
only a few words
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NaPoWriMo Day 12– speaking as the poem
“Polepole”
I would hear as I step
from the Land Cruiser
(they don’t want me to fall)
“Polepole”
so I move slow
until my feet
are on the ground
“Karibu”
Welcome
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NaPoWriMo Day 11
Oh sail away
this bright sunny day
as the waves are few
and the bow leans true
*
Oh sail away
such a colorful array
going wing on wing
hear the ocean sing
*
Oh sail away
returning to the bay
done with my rhyme
and running out of time
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NaPoWriMo Day 10 to write a sea shanty
Too much honey i poured straight from the jar
telling myself it would make things sweeter
how the taste would linger deep in my throat
poison to swallow when my love is far
*
give too much honey myself and I’m weaker
find a balance on this menu of love
sweet and sour are good combinations
let it bind in robust flavor for two
*
My love is greater with the right antidote
not one or the other but a nice mix
all ingredients combined in a bowl
stirred into an harmonious union
*
Too much honey can spoil the batter
love is a complex evolving matter
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NaPoWriMo Day 9 to write a love sonnet
The world is a baobab
teeming with life and water
without water it shrivels
and dies
[Ibu Batuta an Arab explorer in East Africa saw a baobab and recorded it in his 14th century travelogue
botanist Alpino in 1592 ate the fruit while in Egypt and called it Bahobab from the Arabic buhibab which means many-seeded fruit
French explorer Michal Adanson observed a baobab in 1749 on the island of Sor in Senegal recognized the fruit described by Alpino and called it baobab]
Now the singing tree of superstition is alive
and filled with water
holding perhaps 12,000 gallons
replenishes itself in the rainy season
kuokoa
who stops the rain?
bwana anaokoa
Oh singing tree of superstition
bark taking water in
smooth bark
leaves like a vegetable
everything here for survival
pulp of the seed like candy
ciru
beautiful inside and out
qualities that go forward into the ages
living thousands of years
Oh singing tree
withering prophet
speak for the world
tuokoe
save us
Oh singing tree that gives blessings
and curses
in you there is life
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NaPoWriMo Day 8 “Twenty Little Poetry Projects”
In the shade of the baobab tree
boto drivers wait to give rides
slim cattle rest from the sun
there are children who sit briefly
watching the cars and trucks
as the dust flies up
and the old men sit in their chairs
or walk further down the road
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NaPoWriMo Day 7 prompt to write a list poem
let go
of love
and death—
you think
too much—
when love comes
you will be joyous—
when death comes
you will be ready
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NaPoWriMo Day 6 prompt inspired by Portuguese poet Vasco Graça Moura and his poem a dog for pompeii
At the baby elephant orphanage
penned in area of water hole
straw and muck
I slipped
fell
in the mud
crowd gasping
I came up laughing
wondering if
I would end up on tiktok
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NaPoWriMo Day 5 prompt — even the elephants were slipping
wordshophop 