“Oddly Terrifying ” by Dragan Bibin
The words that tumble from your nicotine stained lips
are bound together with rusty metal barbs crawling with Clostridium tetani
the air around you is choked with sulfuric acid and a dash of carbon monoxide
nothing can grow in your shadow
and nightmares, when they dream, scream your name
Ghjulia
31 Writing Prompts for January: Price
Before Doctor Livingston showed up in Zimbabwe and provided it with it’s colonial name, this magnificent Water fall was called Mosi-oa-Tunya, “The Smoke That Thunders ”
Even to this day, if you watch the last youtube clip in this post the narrator refers to Mosi-oa-Tunya as Victoria Falls- indicating this is the ‘proper name’. Then he says ” the locals call it- Mosi-oa-Tunya or “The Smoke That Thunders ” somehow implying that this is a nickname or slang.
I understand Livingston had to name Mosi-oa-Tunya to honor the Queen of England, but my feelings about Colonialism aside, a more descriptive name would have been better.
I would have called it, “The Place Where The Waters Die “.
Mosi-oa-Tunya, “The Smoke That Thunders” Photographer Paul Bruins
Mosi-oa-Tunya, “The Smoke That Thunders” Aerial View
Photographer: Diego Delso
31 Writing Prompts: GIANT