Mastodon Hunt Poem by Robert Charles Howard
Mastodon Hunt
Spear shafts splintering beneath its collapsing hulk,
the mastodon crashed to the earth,
roared its final lament and fell silent.
Shouts echoed across the ravine.
Dark-haired Clovis hunters converged:
stripping the hide,
carving the flesh.
Others circling the carcass,
traced broken shafts to flint;
gathering them for tomorrow's hunt -
retrieving all save one.
A triumphal fire hissed and snapped,
hurling heat and smoke
high into the mid–day sky.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The archaeologist knelt to the ground.
Heart racing, he scraped dirt from flint,
brushed away millennia of dust
and raised the projectile to the sun shouting,
'Clovis point! '
'Clovis point' - a revelation in the dust:
found inches from the bones of its prey.
Khaki and blue jean clad hunters gathered quickly
to read the epic written in flint and bone:
mastodon and Clovis united by the point of a spear.
Oh yeah...this is a treasure! Two bands of hunters separated by 'Clovis years'. One band leaving the point, the other retrieving it. Hunters all the same. You do this type of writing so well indeed! ! Clovis points are so beautiful, almost delicate...too bad the knapper couldn't have signed his work! Excellent! ! ! xxElysabeth
Unfamiliar with the subject matter. however, this was engrossing and amazing. How do you write it so well - transcribe it to the reader intoxicatingly: narratively, poetically. best care, sjg
Vivid write and a lovely parallel with the hunt of modern archeologists in the final stanza. -chuck
This is outstanding. I am not familiar with the subject and it is great that you dont have explanations cluttering up the page. Get the buggers to work, I say. I will get to familiarise my self. There is a wonderful sectioning off of the narration and a strong, almost religious, feel to the piece as a whole. I read this a few times and felt it to be a fine inspirational piece each time.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/18/2024 2:29:02 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Excellent use of s and c words. I can hear the slicing and the chipping or the bone. Full of images to satisfy the senses. I like the contrast between the roar and the silence.