(Haikus REM)

She wakes up one day

Knowing her life’s in ruins

Just sixteen years old

 

Remembers age twelve

When so much of her life changed

Now she remembers

 

All too curious

Has a lot of potential

Knows not where to start

 

She wonders, what now?

Is there any hope for her?

Can she change her world?

 

She reads the paper

And finally finds an ad

She thinks, it’s for me?

 

It says, ‘need student’

‘A student willing to learn’

She knows, it’s for her

 

Meets a gorilla

Who somehow can talk to her

And gives her some help

 

There’s another man

His name is Alan Lomax

Who could this guy be?

 

He’s always just there

Looking right at Ishmael

I feel quite jealous…

 

Ishmael isn’t his

Ishmael belongs to me

He’s my Ishmael…

 

He says he can show

How she can save her culture

One step at a time

 

It will take patience

To listen to my stories

You must start to learn

 

He starts with stories

With A’ and B’s, Awks, and Bawks

And many others

 

All analogies

Of our past and our future

To help her to learn

 

The future is hers

She must learn how to change it

To save her culture

 

…

 

I am Ishmael

I give her all my wisdom

Julie needs it most

 

But then there’s Alan

I tell him my stories too

But does he have hope?

 

Before going away

Alan wanted to keep me

But that can’t happen

 

I needed to go

So I had to lie to him

Julie got me home

 

To put my wisdom

To any sort of good use

She has to act now

 

She is the last hope

She needs to show others how

To save their culture.