Malaria
I got this inclination to find
some thing that wasn’t lost.
I knew not what it looked like,
but to find it I knew I must.
I discussed it with my colleagues
and rightly so they thought me mad.
But the feeling was overwhelming
and was the first of its kind I’ve had.
I visited museums and libraries,
researched chronicles and books.
Diligently viewed my surroundings
leaving nothing overlooked.
A year passed and I lost interest,
and found something else to do.
Soon afterwards I fell off a ladder
and laid unconscious on ward two.
Whilst dreaming dreams of nonsense
the mind rediscovered my quest.
It searched the most ambiguous places
the abstract, surreal, and the rest.
I travelled the continent of Asia
by elephant, horse and camel.
Walked across the sands of the Gobi
guided by a one eyed owl.
From the sky I fell into the ocean
and was rescued by a whale.
It left me on the beach at Cairns,
so I followed an Aussie trail.
I headed west across country
and camped at Alice Springs.
Flew to Cairo by cargo plane
and suffered from bites and stings.
In hospital I was laid up with malaria
and drifted very close to death.
It was then that I regained consciousness
with the answer on my breath.
Now you may find this story unlikely
and sometimes I think so too.
The doctors say that my memory is patchy
and malaria can do that to you.
poem by Orlando Belo
Added by Poetry Lover
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