RSS 2.0 FeedOn Wealth
Self-named cowherds of the world, they walk
for miles on legs reed thin and kudu long.
They learned from youth to dance in Maasai style
with springs for feet to jump Air-Jordan strong,
well-nourished by the cows they tend and count
like living gold, cows they milk and bleed
with just-so frequency in set amounts,
cows they thank and praise by wearing beads,
elaborate strings that ripple white and red.
But a man must pay her father precious cattle
each time he settles on a girl to wed —
how many wives true measure of his mettle.
So, streaking the veldt like crimson-breasted birds
sons, swathed in blood-red prints, attend the herds.
"On Wealth" by Carol Kanter and the accompanying photo by Arnie Kanter are from their book No Secret Where Elephants Walk, which includes Carol's poems and Arnie's photos from three trips to Africa. You may preview the first twenty pages of the book at www.dualartspress.com
Arnie Kanter: "I try to give the viewer of my photos much the same thing I try to give my consulting clients: a unique perspective, a different way of seeing the world. I don't attempt to alter reality, but to present it in new and creative ways that offer the viewer, or client, new insights and possibilities. I do that in different ways, depending on the situation. Sometimes I try to accomplish it through the composition of the elements of the photo, or problem, sometimes by focusing in only on certain elements and sometimes through the use of humor. If I succeed occasionally in changing somebody's perspective, I'm happy." His e-mail address: arnie@kanterprofessional.com
Carol Kanter: "As a pre-school child I would visit Miss Jim the elephant, feed and ride her. She was my gentle friend, larger than life and lived at the St. Louis Zoo. Going on safari was my dream trip. In part to celebrate her, in part to celebrate life – complex, fascinating, larger than itself. I write to try to unmask some small pieces of the complexities I encounter – for myself and for any who wish to come along or use what I offer as a jumping-off place for their own thinking, feeling, sensing." Her e-mail address: cnkan@cnkanter.com