Poem: We Live on Rapanui

With this post I though I'd begin introducing some of the poems I've written and provide a bit of commentary on them.  This first poem, We Live on Rapanui, was something I wrote on a whim, but it reads one of my favorite poems.  The title and general rhythm scheme were inspired by the poem "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.  The writers of the Harlem Renaissance have always been among my favorites, and it's only natural that they would influence me.

The subject matter is a reference to the island of Rapanui, better known as Easter Island.  Once home to a thriving culture that had to abandon the island after they overtaxed its resources.  You'll probably spot a reference to Stephen King's Under the Dome.  In both cases, they serve as a microcosm for the world as a whole.  Figured I'd give my readers mental food to chew on.

That should be enough background for the time, and I'd like to point out you can see this and all of my poems on my Fictionpress account.  This poem also appear in the news paper of Centenary College of Louisiana.  And now, the poem:

We live on Rapanui

We dwell under the dome

We cut the trees for timber

And timber for our homes

The sea gives fish

The trees bear fruit

We light the oil

We hack the soot

In past there were few

In present are many

Where now is little

Long ago was plenty

What did we think

That faithful day

The forest gone

One tree remained

We lived on Rapanui

We dwelled under the dome

We cut the trees for timber

Now no one dwells within the homes