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Friday, March 29, 2013

Dreaming in Green

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What are these walls and floors
where nothing grows?
What are these fences wrapped around us
keeping us from each other,
one on one,
when my Mama wants 
to teach me how to run?


My Mama tells me stories of the savannah:
grasslands, where all my cousins run and play,
tall trees to nibble on,
an open sky...
Why are we not there, too?
I wonder why.



I love my Mama,and I love the sky,
but I need trees and grasses,
freedom I have never seen,
no fences, lots of grass,
and when I dream,
in my wooden stall
at night,
my dreams are green.


gamelodgeindex.blogspot.com


Hannah, over at Real Toads, has set us a challenge for her Transforming Friday: to write from the viewpoint of a creature of the savannah. As the news has recently told us about a newborn giraffe in one of the zoos, I decided to be that baby's voice.
The bottom photo of a shy giraffe was sent to me on facebook, so I dont know who to credit.
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39 comments:

  1. MargaretMarch 29, 2013 at 5:50 PM

    ...my dreams are green.

    I wonder how many zoo animals are born and raised, never having known freedom...

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  2. AnonymousMarch 29, 2013 at 6:18 PM

    So sad to think of being in a zoo

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  3. Kay L. DaviesMarch 29, 2013 at 7:17 PM

    Heartbreakingly true, Sherry. How much happier the second photo seems.
    Luv, K

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  4. Anunoy SamantaMarch 29, 2013 at 10:03 PM

    Oh Sherry you penned some touchy story in savanna theme... I remember those giraffes in Kolkata Zoo whom I had photographed a couple of years back... it was so difficult even to get the full creature in my frame as I places my lens through one of those openings of the fence...
    Cheers :)

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  5. Kerry O'ConnorMarch 30, 2013 at 12:44 AM

    Aw! That picture of mother and child separated is a heart-breaker. Your poem written as narrative of the young giraffe brings the cruelty of human treatment to the fore.

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  6. HannahMarch 30, 2013 at 5:19 AM

    Once again!! Wow...I can't even count the amount of times that your poems have moved me to tears...

    Blur-teared-typing can't express how deeply this hurts in my soul.

    The image is perfect...your poem expresses so well what should be the right of every wild animal...to be in their true home....free and safe.

    Your last line is brilliant, Sherry...gifted from above, the perfect close.

    Thank you SO much for being such an integral voice in these challenges, Sherry. ♥

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  7. ScarletMarch 30, 2013 at 6:01 AM

    I can't bear to see animals caged in the zoos ~ They need the green, just like us ~

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  8. MaryMarch 30, 2013 at 6:08 AM

    I enjoyed how you gave voice to the baby, Sherry!

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  9. Myrna R.March 30, 2013 at 7:38 AM

    I always feel sorry for captive animals. I like your perspective of the baby who will never see her natural habitat. I do hope at least her dreams transport her there. Good writing Sherry.

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  10. hedgewitchMarch 30, 2013 at 8:44 AM

    I once loved the zoo--now can't stand to go there, as it depresses me for days. Great last lines here, too, Sherry.

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  11. Susie ClevengerMarch 30, 2013 at 12:38 PM

    I wander through a zoo and though I love the beauty of the animals there my heart breaks that they will never know freedom. I should have known you would so beautifully address that yearning.

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  12. Jenn JilksMarch 30, 2013 at 5:06 PM

    Aaaawww.
    Cheers from Cottage Country!

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  13. FireblossomMarch 31, 2013 at 9:37 AM

    One of your best, Sherry. You're on a roll lately.

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  14. EllaApril 2, 2013 at 3:18 PM

    I agree one of your best and my dreams are green, too...
    I so love that line of yours ;D

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  15. TruedessaApril 7, 2013 at 1:51 PM

    Oh, I just saw this I absolutely adore Giraffe's.

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  16. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2014 at 8:53 AM

    Wow, a giraffe poem! I'm so glad that in modern zoos, the animals have more green space and can live something a bit more like their natural life. The poem gives a voice to that little giraffe, good work.

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  17. rallentandaSeptember 28, 2014 at 10:20 AM

    I don't believe in zoos, circuses, caged birds or any sport killing animals (fox hunting bird shoots or fishing or training porpoises in sea world) Why don't we just leave these creatures be and stop devastating their habitats.Keep fighting for the animals Sherry !

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  18. Gillena CoxSeptember 28, 2014 at 10:28 AM

    How interesting "green dreams" very possible an innately programmed aspect giraffes, have a lovely Sunday, happy you dropped by my blog

    Much love...

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  19. Paul Andrew RussellSeptember 28, 2014 at 10:34 AM

    Lovely, Sherry.

    I wonder if the animals that are free to roam think the same about us in our houses and places of work? :-)

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  20. Abin ChakrabortySeptember 28, 2014 at 10:36 AM

    picture and verse complement each other beautifully.

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  21. brudbergSeptember 28, 2014 at 11:13 AM

    So sad with wild animals in captivity ... Really sweet with a child's voice

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  22. Myrna R.September 28, 2014 at 11:16 AM

    Once again my heart ached reading this. I must confess I have visited a zoo with my grandson. Though we had a good time, I felt so heavy, like I betrayed my principles. Must be 'cause I did. I don't believe animals should be captive.

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  23. J.N.T.September 28, 2014 at 11:19 AM

    another wonderful piece about nature. i should have read your blog when i was in my 'green' mood back in 2012 and 2013 Sherry. however, what did you think of my "Mother Nature" poem?

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  24. NataĊĦekSeptember 28, 2014 at 11:24 AM

    always love where you take us.. beautiful.

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  25. brudbergSeptember 28, 2014 at 11:26 AM

    So lovely - I thought I left a comment .. Poor little giraffe

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  26. MarySeptember 28, 2014 at 11:52 AM

    This is very touching, Sherry. Those giraffes definitely deserve their green.

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  27. GabriellaSeptember 28, 2014 at 12:29 PM

    It seems so wrong to keep wild animals in captivity. And yet I think that seeing animals in a zoo contributed to my love and appreciation of them. The latest zoos I visited were in Sweden and they must have very strict guidelines there as the animals had a lot of space and green to themselves, no warmth for African animals though.

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  28. SusanSeptember 28, 2014 at 3:43 PM

    I love giraffes and your poem works for them and me on every level. Dream Green, my friend!

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  29. Old EggSeptember 28, 2014 at 3:45 PM

    Unfortunately mankind only plays lip service to co-cohabiting with other creatures of the world. Most zoos are quite repugnant. Many open range zoos have a breeding program but how many animals are returned to the wild or are the offspring merely shipped to other zoos?

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  30. ZQSeptember 28, 2014 at 5:03 PM

    That was cool! Great!
    ZQ

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  31. Stacy M.S.September 28, 2014 at 8:15 PM

    oh, sherry...so beautiful and touching, and left me teary-eyed. i love to see the animals, but the zoo always makes me sad. this is a lovely tribute to the truth.

    stacy lynn mar
    http://warningthestars.blogspot.com/

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  32. dsnake1September 29, 2014 at 5:00 AM

    a very touching poem, Sherry.
    animals should be running free, but zoos have their uses too. it's important that the zoos follow strict guidelines to ensure that the animals are well treated and looked after.

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  33. annell4September 29, 2014 at 5:50 AM

    In the Poland Zoo, there are a pair of donkeys in the farm animal section. They have been together for 10 years. They love each other very much. They have had 6 off spring. A conservative group was offended because of their 'public love.' A conservative politician contacted the Zoo and made them put the pair in seperate pens. The people were so sad, they protested. The pair were reunited and are still in love.

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  34. UnknownSeptember 29, 2014 at 6:11 AM

    What a lovely write Sherry! Zoo and cages always make me sad. I once bought birds just to free them, I wish we could do the same for the little giraffe here. Lovely write!

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  35. Carrie Van HornSeptember 29, 2014 at 8:13 AM

    From the eyes os a giraffe....it would be a lovely child's storybook Sherry. :-)

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  36. Brian MillerSeptember 29, 2014 at 8:19 AM

    sad really...to be taken from your natural habitat and put on display...we dont think about it...they just entertain us...but what if the roles were reversed...

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  37. Kathryn DycheSeptember 29, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    Green dreams, heartbreaking.

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  38. Vinay Leo R.September 29, 2014 at 12:12 PM

    To be captured and raised in that captivity is saddening. If it is saddening for us on some level, then it is a hundred times as much for that animal. Your poem does the pain of the giraffe justice, while keeping the poem beautiful.

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  39. Gen Giggles September 30, 2014 at 5:32 PM

    Great poem. Did you play hide and seek with him for long or did you keep loosing?

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