The poetry prompt for today came indirectly from Billy Collins via a Master Class on poetry. The challenge was to write a poem six to twelve lines long and containing only one sentence. My inspiration came from an article I read on giraffe humming.

Did you know that giraffe hum to one another when they sleep?

Well, at least giraffe in captivity do. The experts can only guess about what happens in the enclosures at night, but they have these amazing rich sound recordings of a deep harmonizing hum.

Many have hypothesized about the reason for the giraffe humming. Perhaps in captivity the songs are a way of connecting. Perhaps the sounds are snoring or maybe even dream sounds.

For me, I don’t need to know the reason why giraffe hum, I just need to listen to them. It’s the kind of sound that mends the earth.

Check out this article and listen to the sounds your self.

Hum of Giraffe

When the darkness comes 
in low over the Serengeti
and the full moon rises 
above the winding Mara,

you can hear the steady
irrepressible humming
like the deep harmonic rumble 
of an ancient antiphonal choir

their sustained echos becoming
a healing drone, mending 
the earth one solemn
soulful cry at a time. 

—A draft by Carla Jeanne Picklo Jordan

May your day overflow with healing and peace.