My Poems

The Congo Senses

I am the Congo.

I have seen...
Boats hauling trade items of copper, sugar, coffee, and cotton from central Africa, over 700 species of fish fighting over my vast waters, and grassy meadows of echinochloa, papyrus, and sage fringing my banks.

I am the Congo.

I have heard...
The call of the seabird flying upstream from the ocean, the sixty-seven inches of annual rainfall constantly pounding upon my back, and my own self as I flow through the 2920 mile journey into the Atlantic Ocean.

I am the Congo.

I have felt...
My steep rapids and falls tossing and churning restlessly, the black catfish swimming through my dark waters where I can't see, and the enclosing overgrowth of my wild aquatic vegetation.

I am the Congo.

I have smelled...
The dense evergreen forest coexisting around me, the crops of sweet potatoes, bananas, and yams the river people planted beyond my reach, and the wood, minerals, and fuel also transported across my width.

I am the Congo.

I have tasted...
The sickly sweet poison used my the river people to soundlessly kill fish, the sharp tang of the blood of a tribe of cannibals who once settled near me, and the bitterness of the salt of the ocean as I come to my borders.

I am the Congo