| And the Good Book Says: The meek shall inherit the Earth Rajean Gallagher 2005 Pulitzer-Prize winner and white South African, Kevin Carter recorded the famine in Sudan: Creating a photo which "made the world weep."* Picture, this: Left hand corner. Vulture patiently awaiting child carrion. Pin-point his eyes, a miniature Grim reaper, the scythe assuming the form of man-made famine. Beautiful brown-skinned babe, head submissively in the sand. struggles against death in the Cradle of Humanity. She is another man's daughter at your feet- She is denied That from which we all came. And the Good Book Says You, Kevin Carter, crouched, hidden behind a bush. Did she weep as you watched her with your cold, sterile silver eye? You were Clinically Detached. You reported a twenty minute wait for the bird to spread its wings, failing that, you took your prize recording, swooping down in his place. But- You forgot that a one-eyed-view means you're half-blind. Kevin- I forgot to ask: Do you sleep at night? And when the drugs, the excitement of recording the horrors of war wore off, you finally did suicide/sleep on a knapsack pillow in your red Toyota truck. hidden again, behind a gum tree, with the gardenhose which was green, creating ambience, asphyxiation and then, death. You left behind your seven-year old daughter, Meagan. The meek shall inherit only the dirt that envelops them. |
| All poetry Copyright 2005, Rajean Gallagher. All rights reserved. |
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| Kevin Carter's Photo depicting the Sudanian Famine. A White South African, Kevin Carter was regularly exposed to war, famine and death- which were to haunt him to a sadly early grave. Though this poem may appear to be negative towards him, my purpose was actually to highlight the domination of the mechanical over the organic. This is the first poem I have ever written, and I am likely to return to this theme and try to fully depict the horrors that Kevin Carter and millions of others have suffered seeing and experiencing because of man- induced famine, drought and war. This photo has been an image which continues to influence me to this day. |
| *Elizabeth Valk Ling, the President of Time Domestic said that Kevin Carter "took a picture that made the world weep." Available online here. |
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