{"id":456,"date":"2009-08-21T11:21:36","date_gmt":"2009-08-21T11:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/nucleus-import\/?p=456"},"modified":"2009-08-21T11:21:36","modified_gmt":"2009-08-21T11:21:36","slug":"vultures-chinua-achebe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/vultures-chinua-achebe\/","title":{"rendered":"vultures\/chinua achebe"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chinua Achebe<\/div>\n

\nIn the greyness
\nand drizzle of one despondent
\ndawn unstirred by harbingers
\nof sunbreak a vulture
\nperching high on broken
\nbones of a dead tree….—————
\nVultures<\/b><\/p>\n

In the greyness
\nand drizzle of one despondent
\ndawn unstirred by harbingers
\nof sunbreak a vulture
\nperching high on broken
\nbones of a dead tree
\nnestled close to his
\nmate his smooth
\nbashed-in head, a pebble
\non a stem rooted in
\na dump of gross
\nfeathers, inclined affectionately
\nto hers. Yesterday they picked
\nthe eyes of a swollen
\ncorpse in a water-logged
\ntrench and ate the
\nthings in its bowel. Full
\ngorged they chose their roost
\nkeeping the hollowed remnant
\nin easy range of cold
\ntelescopic eyes… <\/p>\n

Strange
\nindeed how love in other
\nways so particular
\nwill pick a corner
\nin that charnel-house
\ntidy it and coil up there, perhaps
\neven fall asleep – her face
\nturned to the wall! <\/p>\n

…Thus the Commandant at Belsen
\nCamp going home for
\nthe day with fumes of
\nhuman roast clinging
\nrebelliously to his hairy
\nnostrils will stop
\nat the wayside sweet-shop
\nand pick up a chocolate
\nfor his tender offspring
\nwaiting at home for Daddy’s
\nreturn… <\/p>\n

Praise bounteous
\nprovidence if you will
\nthat grants even an ogre
\na tiny glow-worm
\ntenderness encapsulated
\nin icy caverns of a cruel
\nheart or else despair
\nfor in the very germ
\nof that kindred love is
\nlodged the perpetuity
\nof evil. <\/p>\n

\n*Chinua Achebe is one of the most recognized names in modern African literature. His book Things Fall Apart<\/i> is one of the most widely read books from Africa. He has several books including volumes of poetry, short stories, novels, critical essays, children’s books as well as political commentary. He is from Nigeria and continues to be one of the most prestigious and respected authors not only from Africa but from around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the greyness and drizzle of one despondent dawn unstirred by harbingers of sunbreak a vulture perching high on broken bones of a dead tree….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mahmag.org\/archive-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}