TU TUESDAY- CULTURE

Article Link: http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/150-children-lose-parents-in-South-Sudan-violence-2438113.php
Poem Link:http ://http://www.thehypertexts.com/Adrie%20Kusserow%20Poet%20Poetry%20Picture%20Bio%20Sudan%20Darfur.htm
Skull Trees, South SudanAdrie Kusserow

Arok, hiding from the Arabs in the branches of a tree,
two weeks surviving on leaves,
legs numb, mouth dry.
When the mosquitoes swarmed
and the bodies settled limp as petals under the trees,
he shinnied down, scooping out a mud pit with his hands
sliding into it like a snake,
his whole body covered except his mouth.
Perhaps others were near him,
lying in gloves of mud, sucking bits of air through the swamp holes,
mosquitoes biting their lips,
but he dared not look.

What did he know of the rest of South Sudan, pockmarked with bombs,
skull trees with their necklaces of bones,
packs of bony Lost Boys
roving like hyenas towards Ethiopia,
tongues, big as toads, swelling in their mouths,

the sky pouring its relentless bombs of fire. Of course they were
tempted to lie down for a moment,

under the lone tree, with its barely shade,
to rest just a little while before moving on,

the days passing slyly, hallucinations
floating like kites above them
until the blanched bones lay scattered in a ring around the tree,
tiny ribs, skulls, hip bones—a tea set overturned,
as the hot winds whistled through them
as they would anything, really,

and the sky, finally exhausted,
moving on.

"Red Cross volunteers are trying to reconnect 150 young children with their missing parents after tens of thousands of residents of South Sudan ran into the bush while fleeing a massive wave of tribe-on-tribe violence, an official said Tuesday." There was a tribal war and many people were killed and abducted, forcing the police to search for the missing people. They believe that many of the missing parents are dead. The people of Sudan are scared and the children that are as young as 6 months have no where to go. "Children in the area already live in continual fear of violence and are often abducted in raids. If fighting continues thousands more could be killed, maimed, abducted or recruited to fight." The fighting in Sudan is not just a recent thing. "South Sudan fought a decades-long civil war with northern neighbor Sudan, a war that culminated in a 2005 peace deal that saw the partitioning of Sudan and the birth of South Sudan last July." This article relates to the poem

Skull Trees, South Sudan by Adrie Kusserow because the poem explains how there was violence and people were left scared and had to survive. It talks about how Southern Sudan has had many problems with war. "What did he know of the rest of South Sudan, pockmarked with bombs,skull trees with their necklaces of bones."The poem talks about the people left and the people that died like the article. "tiny ribs, skulls, hip bones—a tea set overturned, as the hot winds whistled through them as they would anything, really." The last line is very powerful. It reads, "and the sky, finally exhausted,moving on." I think it means that Sudans people have had enough and that the moving on line means its finally over. My favorite line though is, "packs of bony Lost Boys." This connects to the article because Sudan has many missing boys and girls and this line is a huge connection.