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Silent Slums
March 29, 2016
Sapphire skies, a crimson glow
No one cares what happens down below
In the silent, silent slums
Beneath the silver clouds
Dirty bodies, greasy hair
Babies wailing, children bare
Copper water, don't be scared
Beneath the silver clouds
Rocinha, Mumbai, Nairobi
At rubble’s edge is apathy
Seas of tin roofs drown the free
Beneath the silver clouds
Enlarged egos, conscious blind
Fabricated love for humankind
Ignore the screeching, unaware
Beneath the silver clouds
Rotting corpses, blaze and ache
Jutting bones, distilled heartbreak
In the silent, silent slums
Beneath the silver clouds
© Katherine S., Agoura Hills, CA
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This is an ekphrasis poem based of the painting "The Wake" by Jovan Karlo Villaba. The art immediately captured my attention with its striking use of color, but once I looked closer, the piece inspired me even more. The abstract silver on the bottom reminded me of slums crammed with tin roofs, and I decided to focus on a juxtaposition: using the beauty of the painting to depict a horror of society that needs to be discussed.