# Please help identify the poem I read in college. Involves Kilimanjaro....I think **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** poetry\ **Created:** [April 8, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793 "2025-04-08T13:42:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/1 "2025-04-08T13:42:49Z")
I was in college 1996-2002, but this was likely 1999-2002 time range. A.I. showed me three poems about Kilimanjaro and having read them, they don’t appear to be it. “On Top of Africa” by B. Tejani “Kilimanjaro” by Hana Njau-Okolo “The Slopes of Kilimanjaro” by Dr. Robert Ippaso The poem we read in college wasn’t so much about the beauty of the mountain, but more about the people at the top of it looking down at the people who remain on the bottom. One of the themes and lines in has something about “remember that while you look down on us at the bottom, we on the bottom look up to you at the top.” Some theme about people looking at the place and things they don’t have. I would have said it was by Robert Pinsky, but I have looked and he doesn’t have a poem like that. Note: I may be wrong about Kilimanjaro. I am almost certain that was the mountain in it, but I would have thought I could find a poem about that with my themes more easily. Does anyone know the poem I read? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/2 "2025-04-08T13:45:50Z")
Note: The professor died a few years ago or I would have emailed him to ask. He was a cool guy and probably would have just emailed me the title quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/3 "2025-04-08T14:36:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Some theme about people looking at the place and things they don’t have. Getting “One Tin Soldier” vibes here. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/4 "2025-04-08T14:56:11Z")
It didn’t have one of the most awkward lines in modern poetry, did it? As sure as KilimanjaroriseslikeOlympus aBOVE the SER’en-gheh-TEEEE… ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/5 "2025-04-08T15:16:42Z")
Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Africa anymore. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/6 "2025-04-08T15:44:21Z")
Perfect username / post combo. Well done Good Sir! ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/7 "2025-04-08T15:50:56Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > A.I. showed me three poems about Kilimanjaro and having read them, they don’t appear to be it. Have you looked up these poems independently, or read AI-provided versions? I ask because I recently asked an AI to suggest poems about spring, and it came up with two allegedly by Mörike and Uhland, both of whom have in fact written famous poems on the topic, but the ones I was served were complete hallucinations. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-the-poem-i-read-in-college-involves-kilimanjaro-i-think/1016793/8 "2025-04-08T16:04:58Z")
Did it refer to the [The Twin Peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a52lkaY1CCE)?