Don Matthews

Orangutan

Friday 17th May 2019 11:40 am

Preamble

Rhyme comes natural to me. Prose does not. This causes problems as some feelings I want to express need prose, not rhyme. So unskilled as I am in this area 'Orangutan' is a rare venture out of my rhyming comfort zone. The story is true.

Orangutan

The picture waited publication

a grieving orangutan

her infant lost in labour

Where Is the dead infant

asked the reporter ?

The zoo replied uncomfortably

she's eaten it.... quite common in primates,

part of their grieving process

The picture was published

with no mention of the dead infant

Don Matthews 17 May 2019

🌷 (2)

◄ Shit! I've Lost My Privacy

Nursie Caroline ►

Comments

victoriavautaw@gmail.com

Sat 18th May 2019 02:27

Powerful punch to the gut. Prose approved!

<Deleted User> (21818)

Fri 17th May 2019 21:43

I empathize with you Don. So many times I want to write something but sticking to rhyme doesn't allow me to express what I want and so I venture towards non-rhyming poems. I think you did a beautiful job expressing a very sad sentiment. Bravo!

<Deleted User> (21487)

Fri 17th May 2019 20:43

This is so sad, - i am sure the zoo-keepers do their best - but the fact remains that she is a bereaved mother in a foreign country - and she had her photo taken.
It is sad to read and sad to think about - i only hope she was given the privacy to grieve. At least she wasn't used to sell a newspaper.
Dorothy

Don Matthews

Fri 17th May 2019 11:56

Can a writer comment on their own work?

To be classified as a poem in the proper sense it should have rhythm.
I'm not sure I have succeeded here.

It does however pack emotion into a few lines, to me, the sign of a good poem.

The last two lines pleased me. An unexpected, but thoughtful decision by the paper to withhold what really happened 'behind the scenes'. As mentioned this is a true story.

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