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Click hereVulture waits,
obsessed by hunger,
as Darwin’s victor in the maintenance of life.
Child fades,
destroyed by famine,
as Malthus’ quarry in the correction of might.
Man thirsts,
possessed by excess,
as Satan’s victim in the assurance of death.
Vulture shooed to sate.
Child saved to hope.
Man heaved to hell—
imploding.
*******
Author notes
This poem follows previous efforts by Koba and vrosej10 to describe a Pulitzer prize winning photograph by Kevin Carter. You may google the photographer to see the photograph.
The two previous poems are The Vulture and the Baby by Koba, and How to Stop Being Human by vrosej10.
I want to thank Koba for writing the original poem.
Another short verse about the photograph will post tomorrow.
Poet Guy is not quite sure how to respond to your poem. That it is a poem that references a photograph complicates things. But if he looks at your poem as poem (i.e., without regard to other connections) it seems a bit, as twelveoone says, dry.
It could hardly be anything but, given that the photograph is missing.
Anyway. Technical comments: "Darwin's victor" seems inappropriate here, as On the Origin of Species speaks to intraspecies competition, not interspecies competition. Unless you mean that the vulture is outcompeting other vultures by lurking about the baby, this seems a stretch, at least from a technical standpoint.
The Malthus reference, though apropos, seems slightly off, at least in being associated with the word "quarry." This may, perhaps, be Poet Guy misunderstanding the reference, as he does not view Malthus as being able to, nor intending to, target quarry.
Good poem, anyway, and though he has probably been rather pissy about your references, he liked them. And your poem.
Satin is Satan! I recall the day when that typo showed up in my church's newsletter. I had a laugh. Satin is evil! AAHHHH! I shall giggle every time I see satin panties.
I love the structure of this! Pretty and so unique! It's definitely appealing; very fun to read and compelling enough to get lost in.
Wow! I hope I can write more poems that stir up this much thought! But again, I shall have to say that it is probably the photo more than my words which caused this reaction (at least 98%!). And again, I must say I like my interpretation better....lol...and I guess I always humbly will! But you present your view in a 5 star poem which made me think even more. Well done!
I noticed you left a note on the misspelling. I had an error in my last poem too. I tried to fix it but was unable to. I followed the instructions given in the FAQ but the error is still there. Not sure what to do. Seems like an author should be able to easily edit his own stuff. Oh well!