Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Poacher's Moon.




There were stars that I once wished upon.
There was the moon, my guiding light.
They were signs that God was watching
Over all my friends each night.
But now a poacher's moon is rising
In this cloudless starry sky,
There's an evil hand stalks across this land:
Another rhino tonight will die.
So take the stars out of the heavens.
Take the moon down from the skies.
My friends now need the darkness,
In the darkness they must hide.
There's a cross for all who've fallen,
I hold a vigil by candlelight.
There's a prayer I share with those who care-
"Keep Our rhino safe tonight."
So take the stars out of the heavens.
Take the moon down from the skies.
The moon that was once my guiding light
Brings me misery tonight.
'Cause there's a poacher's moon now rising,
Death stalks the bright moonlight.
If another dies, I'm going to cry,
My heart will break tonight.
I'd take the stars out of the heavens.
I'd take the moon down from the skies.
I would mix them with all my tears and fears-
A magic shield so they can hide.
So take the stars out of the heavens.
Take the moon down from the skies.
Please God we need your blessings,
"Keep Our rhino safe tonight."



The inspiration for this post lies with some verse I sent to Ray Kieran, but the real genesis is the work that other rhino conservation activists are doing each full moon with a cross planting in Cape Town, South Africa to highlight all those rhino slaughtered merely because of Asian demand for their horn for Chinese Traditional Medicine beliefs.
Please read and share this group's work-
Planting Crosses For Fallen Rhino

 You can read more about this tragic situation of rhino poaching here-

This is the picture that inspired the above words-


Another cross planting takes place for this coming Poacher's Moon- 6th April.
Credits:
Ray Kieran.
The above poetry arose out of a conversation with Ray Keiran, a rhino conservation activist on OSCAP Facebook group-(Outraged SA Citizens Against Poaching).  I sent her a few lines and Ray was ecstatic over the words and meanings captured by them. So I developed the verses from those simple lines and sat on this poem for a few weeks seeking out suitable images to illustrate this with. 

 Ciske Kruger.
Then I approached Ciske Kruger, another gifted activist from OSCAP, sent her the words and asked her if she could interpret the words with romantic yet tragic imagery hoping the lyrics would inspire something special to include in this post. Ciske then posted these images on various Facebook groups where they received rapturous applause - as they should. And at the same time sent me the same images, less the text that appears in the originals. I asked Ciske to add crosses into her artwork!
Thanks Ray and Ciske!

Oh and keep checking this site...maybe these lyrics start something else!

Travel Photo Thursday is on again where travel bloggers post up their great pics from around the world. Join us! Head over to Nancie's  travel-photo-thursday-april-5-2012 and post up your travel photo and link into the fun!


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19 comments:

mara said...

this is absolutely beautifull and so sad at the same time....

RhinoRay said...

Jim!
Thank you so much for posting - The words are amazing, gives me chills reading them. Very talented.
And Ciske - huge applause for all your work. You really manage to mesmerize people with your work. Truly incredible both of you. Mwah xx

Unknown said...

Good work on this poem, Jim.

Jackie Smith said...

Absolutely an amazing post and entry in TPThursday. Your words, message and photography are an inspiration.

Andi at The Particular Traveler said...

What a haunting and beautiful post. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Nancie said...

I agree with the other posters...haunting, beautiful words, but such a tragic situation.

Nice to you at Travel Photo Thursday, Jim!!

RyukyuMike said...

Sad, but, some beautiful words and artwork. Thanks for sharing.

Bob R said...

Many thanks for this. Will pass along the info in the group.

InsideJourneys said...

Jim, thanks for sharing this. I had no idea rhino poaching was going on in SA. This is sad and so hauntingly beautiful.

Sabrina said...

Wow! That memorial is really quite impressive. Your art work as well. I had no idea that rhino poaching is such a big problem. I thought it was mainly elephants. How sad.

Cathy Sweeney said...

Beautiful poem -- such a tragedy about the rhinos. It's wonderful that you and others are doing so much for their cause.

Unknown said...

Wow- thank you for bringing to my attention something I knew nothing about. Fascinating.

~Becca

Unknown said...

Wow- thank you for bringing to my attention something I knew nothing about. Fascinating.

~Becca

Rachel Hoyt said...

Gorgeous poem! It could definitely be read as a prayer or meditated upon this poacher's moon. I will pray.

Absurd Traveler said...

wow really moving JIm. I didn't know about the cross planting. It's so sad and I'm glad there are people like you out there who are passionate and want to make people more aware of the situation.

Michael Figueiredo said...

I can't believe that people are still poaching rhinos. So sad! Beautiful artwork and poetry.

Anonymous said...

That was so incredibly sad as is the killing and maming of these wonderfully beautiful creatures. I passed this on to all my friends and family and asked them to do the same. Everyone, no matter where they live should be a crusader for our wildlife who are in danger. I wish I could have been there for the event but will have my own full moon moment for now on right here in my little house, on my little street, in Madisonville Louisianna. God bless the Rhino.

Unknown said...

I really thought this was amazing, it stirred something deep inside my soul~! thank you~!

Ravenmyth said...

Jim this is so beautifully written, breaking to the heart of the matter in its full and powerful use of words and photo's. What destroys our animal kingdom destroys us...educating us all on this is a powerful tool for change. Thank you for bringing this to my attention and I look forward to doing what I can...Always...