Friday, August 27, 2010

No Hope

why oh why
what have I done
to be in a place
where there
is no hope

no food
no drink
all alone
so young

no future
no past
can't understand
forsaken

gift to mankind
possibilities
unlimited
doctor
scientist

cruelty of mankind
starvation
dying of thirst

cruelty of nature
cruelty of man

food and water
everywhere
not here
never enough
hunger constant
thirst constant
suffering constant
future is dim

I am forsaken
what have I done
death is near
end the suffering

Poem by R. Jacob Post Poetic Muses

This photograph showing a starving Sudanese child being stalked by a vulture won Kevin Carter the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography.



Photographer Haunted by Horror of His Work

Obituary: Kevin Carter 1960 - 1994
Johannesburg - Kevin Carter, the South African photographer whose image of a starving Sudanese toddler stalked by a vulture won him a Pulitzer Prize this year, was found dead on Wednesday night, apparently a suicide, police said yesterday.  He was 33.  The police said Mr Carter's body and several letters to friends and family were discovered in his pick-up truck, parked in a Johannesburg suburb.  An inquest showed that he had died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mr Carter started as a sports photographer in 1983 but soon moved to the front lines of South African political strife, recording images of repression, anti-apartheid protest and fratricidal violence.  A few davs after winning his Pulitzer Prize in April, Mr Carter was nearby when one of his closest friends and professional companions, Ken Oosterbroek, was shot dead photographing a gun battle in Tokoza township.
Friends said Mr Carter was a man of tumultuous emotions which brought passion to his work but also drove him to extremes of elation and depression.  Last year, saying he needed a break from South Africa's turmoil, he paid his own way to the southern Sudan to photograph a civil war and famine that he felt the world was overlooking.
His picture of an emaciated girl collapsing on the way to a feeding centre, as a plump vulture lurked in the background, was published first in The New York Times and The Mail & Guardian, a Johannesburg weekly.  The reaction to the picture was so strong that The New York Times published an unusual editor's note on the fate of the girl.  Mr Carter said she resumed her trek to the feeding centre.  He chased away the vulture.
Afterwards, he told an interviewer, he sat under a tree for a long time, "smoking cigarettes and crying".  His father, Mr Jimmy Carter laid last night: "Kevin always carried around the horror of the work he did." - The New York Times
Source: Sydney Morning Herald Saturday 30 July 1994

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Empty Dreams

falling asleep
realizing
for once
in a long time

no one
to dream
about

no taking
myself
to my happy
place

there is
no happy
place
anymore

Ghost Ship

like the
Flying Dutchman
cast about
the oceans
tortured souls
unable to land
come to port
complete the journey

unrequited
unable to complete
the circle
the journey
to be as one
not to be
as two

thoughts and
emotions
crash the seas
the mantra repeats
can not have
what is not
attainable

what if it is true
the highest mountains
the deepest seas
stand between you
it is not worth the effort
it can not be
no sacrifice too great
but to no avail

Don Quixote
jousted at windmills
laughed at
delusional
he didn't win

like a lovesick boy
in school
heart set
on the prettiest girl
not to be

why do men
do what they do
brain doesn't
get in the way
logic spock
too human
heart gets in the way

doesn't need to
make sense
she reads
thoughts undone
space and time
allows one to
reach out
or brush away

there will be
another
or two or three
sameness
closeness
not to
be there

bruised
and
bewildered
should have
known better
why did I try
doddering old fool

taken as I am
true to thy self
accept or reject
chips
fall as they may
owed nothing
by other
emotional
outburst
a cleansing
not complete

bury into the
ground
this too shall pass
just a man

to survive
the saying

just friends
not lovers
my ghost ship
journeys on

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Daytime Hands Off To Night

looking over water
from backyard

birds come down
once last chance
for the day
feast or famine
unaware fish
swim by
a meal or home
to early
to call

a cool breeze
starts to find
its way
to end
a another
heat full day

the sun
ends it free fall
off in distance
water swirling
ripples trace
the surface
from whence it came

smooth jazz
tickles the ears
Franks and Krall
magical question
popsicle toes
are always froze

how many licks
to make you
happy
the world
may never know

one can guess

one more
might do it

Monday, July 12, 2010

Too Much To Ask?


to awaken
each morning
to the sounds
touch
caress
of one who cares

giving wide berth
barely a glance
tolerated
just
a brick
in the wall
a finger in the water
once removed
nothing remains

once was
hope and dreams
drudgery abounds
thoughts for
the future
cloudy and grey

no light at the end
of this
tunnel

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Do You Feel My Pain?

Reprinted
From
R Jacob Post
June 8th, 2010

injury started it
but long time
coming

body run down
over time
waiting
for a chance

the knee
one part of many
crying out
no where to hide
in the world

ache pain
sleep unable
toss
turn
fatigue causes sleep
not for long

body positioned
in bed
like chalk
outline
seeking relief

drug help
one that works
two months
like a lifetime

how does one
handle it all
chronic
life sapping
overwhelming

understand
now
gets to the point
end it all

why they do it
why they call
Dr. Kervorkian
line one

Monday, May 3, 2010

Oil and Water


starts with a fire
explosion in air
people die
can't be found

rig collapse
into the deep
a mile or more

bubbling crude
rising to surface
slow death
fish birds jobs

shut off none
months to recover
food gone
save what we can

earth be damned
all about
the money
drill
baby
drill

sounds hollow
now
doesn't it

oil

and

water

don't

mix

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Karma?




sometimes
you think
or plan
effort is there
outside forces
cause a rift

future to be changed
redouble doings
this time
around
the planets
will
be
aligned
over time

Monday, March 22, 2010

You've Got Mail!





someone special
stops on by
time to share
thoughts of
the day

a quickening
of the pulse
good news
or bad
how are you today
a smile forms
someone cares

learn much
of one
or another
ups and downs
family life
been there
done that
me too

pain shared
joy too
work concerns
financial too
tired sleepy
sleep well
enjoy your day

very special
one day

we will meet

Monday, March 8, 2010

A Compliment


you write and
you wonder
did it make
sense
the feelings
and emotions that
were felt
at the time

words rush out
some funny
some sad
tell a story
in my own
little way

if it puts you
in the moment
another time
another place
in the shoes
of another

and you like
it too
my reward

my work
is done

Llink Within

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