Laurel SpeerOne White European Trader
Ladies and gentlemen of the Congo, ships at sea,
well-dressed parties sitting down to assorted viands
at laden tables, skulls left sightless at the hut
and crates of ivory taken from slaughtered animals,
it's a wrap on this stinking little boat coming out.
"Mistah Kurtz--he dead."
Listen to the stories that follow, watch the weather,
check your pocket watches, read your Baedeker.
Laurel Speer's latest publication is a prose pamphlet titled Blood and Puppets. She is a contributing editor for Small Press Review.
The Journal of African Travel-Writing, Number 2, March 1997 (p. 87).
Copyright © 1997 The Journal of African Travel-Writing