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Write a poem for National Poetry Month based on the topic described....rather, write a poem set in, pertaining to, or inspired by the given region, whether its entirety or just some part of it, as this year's prompts are going to be unified by the theme "Around the World" like last year's prompts were unified by the theme "Esoterica". Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. There are three levels of participation:
Bronze. Participated at least once.
Silver. Participated every day.
Gold. Participated every day, with all entries either being the same form (e.g., every one a sonnet) or being distinct forms (e.g., no two haiku).
Today's region is Macaronesia, or the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and Cabo Verde.
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Blessed
Western isles, Hesperides, where Sun takes his
rest of nights with souls of the blest a good way
south of storied Avalon. Still a vital
way-station now that
men can rise on wings without dying but must
stop, refuel, and plan their next leg of travel.
Sailors, airmen running on fumes remain still
blest to have reached them.
Non-practicing atheist
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11 minutes ago
(This post was last modified: 8 minutes ago by RiverNotch.)
Navigators
The Mansa's ambition to find what long ago
Plato envisioned, what Erikson later found,
and what even later Columbus would despoil,
led him to gather Mali's nascent wealth
and purchase a fleet of ships, recruiting men
from all around the coast to be their crew.
At first, the winds blew straightly and steadily west
but soon each day the sun climbed up the sky
lower and lower, Polaris drew nearer and nearer,
until they feared that they were trapped in a gyre
soon to restore them far too early home.
They were about to try and change their tack
when from the prow of their foremost a shout
rang even to the aftmost of the file:
"Land ho!" The sailors, at their captains' nod,
scrambled to skirt around the sight and find
safe harbor for their barks, only they spied
along a line of sand between the sea
and endless laurel forests familiar signs:
either from native stone or wood carved out
stood haloed crosses. To these Blessed Isles
they had been bested by some Irish jack.
