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A few years ago I wrote a poem loosely based this event. I know unsolicited poetry from strangers on the internet is almost always awful, but this poem still h
by bnjmn 10y ago
A few years ago I wrote a poem loosely based this event.
I know unsolicited poetry from strangers on the internet is almost always awful, but this poem still holds up for me, which is pretty unusual for anything I've ever written.
So I hope you enjoy it, too:
NYOS
You took me in on dusky breath,
tasted me, tasted nothing,
gathered by my easy take
that I was oxygen enough
for idle inspiration.
How swiftly my lack became your
lack; my misgiving, your mistake.
Your eyes flashed a baffled
petition as you fell limp in a
thousand different doorways,
cribs, embraces, fits and fields,
yet I pressed after whatever it was
I thought to find in the lowest
parts of Cameroon, as foolish in
love as a gas trapped in a lake.
- x2398dh1 10y agoI have wondered if the 1986 Ladysmith Black Mambazo / Paul Simon song, "Homeless," is about this tragedy, but I have not been able to find anything online confirming it. The only things I have supporting this are the fact that it came out in 1986 and has the lyrics, "Moonlight sleeping on the midnight lake," and "Strong wind, many dead tonight it could be you." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy3YVyh3mYE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy3YVyh3mYE
- qq66 10y agoThe lyric does fit perfectly but it's not based on Lake Nyos. The Lake Nyos CO2 outgassing was on August 21 and Graceland was released on August 26.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- zeroer 10y agoIf it means anything to you, I enjoy being hyper-critical, and shitting on strangers on the internet has a special place in my heart, but that poem is pretty good. I'd read more if you published it.
- bnjmn 10y agoThanks, that does mean a lot to me. I wish I had more to share, but writing poems takes such a long time, and my day job (programming) seems to deplete my motivation for other kinds of writing. But those are just excuses.
- goodpoem 10y agoI really enjoyed that, thank you for sharing.
- bnjmn 10y agoyou're welcome :)
- akkartik 10y agoFavorited (https://news.ycombinator.com/favorites?id=akkartik&comments=t https://news.ycombinator.com/favorites?id=akkartik&comments=...) Thanks!
- maxerickson 10y agoPerhaps the comment page ( like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12276437 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12276437 ) should somehow show users that have favorited it.
- viewer5 10y agoI love the linebreak between the second and third stanza. It seems like a weird thing to love. But I finish stanza 2 and I'm like "oh no!" then a linebreak comes and I expect something different, but line 1 is the same list but more horrible. So I enjoy (and am horrified by) the effect that linebreak had. Thank you for sharing with us. That was horrifying and lovely.
- bnjmn 10y agoI'll take "horrifying and lovely" any day!
- bashinator 10y agoIf I were to someday[0] use this for lyrics, would that be cool? Anything recorded would have full credit to you of course. PM if you want. [0] My life is full of half-started projects...
- digitalarborist 10y agoI think it's pretty good :D. I know the apprehension of releasing creative works on the internet as you never know how they will be received. Thanks for putting yourself out there.