Gert Strydom, 9 july 2012
(for A)
I wonder in whose arms
you do wake this morning
and who lies comfortable against you
and would have wanted just a moment
but time moves on
while my live
moves at full speed
and I wish for you to disappear
into oblivion and with you the pain
that our separation did bring.
Gert Strydom, 9 july 2012
(after A. G. Visser)
Do I remind you Annelize, of our lost love,
of every card, every letter
bushes of roses that I gave almost without end
about the bonds that we made to a marriage;
our memories will last to the end of time
there are things that we cannot forget.
Minette, sometimes moments are matchless
your time was fragile like a rose
and now there’s only a dream in which you are,
you are part of the eternal darkness;
our memories will last to the end of time
there are things that we cannot forget.
Riana, do you remember the summer moon
when we went on honeymoon to the hills
how joyous you loved me,
the bracelet with wild animals,
our memories will last to the end of time
there are things that we cannot forget.
Mandi, do you recall our conversations on the porch,
the twilight when the doves call each other,
the poems that we both did write and share;
we did love each other or did I only image it?
Our memories will last to the end of time
there are things that we cannot forget.
l’Envoi
Daleen, you are the only one
who selflessly does love me from the start,
it’s as if our love lingers from the act of creation,
as if God Himself has determined our bond
and no other woman I can love more heartfelt
as you are the one that brings greatness to me
you do restore my humanity, to be whole again,
when continually you set my life to new meaning
and its you that I love eternally
who I know and understand like myself
and always you are in my shadow,
as the one that sometimes catches me like a net,
in times of big happiness and utter grieve
the one with whom I want to share all of my years.
[Reference: “Eheu Fugaces” by A. G. Visser. Eheu Fugaces = Eternal faces.]
Satish Verma, 9 july 2012
This fake city
encounters
a thundering
moment; I go down
coveting a mating
call from an explosion
of hallowed
questions, with no answers.
Stones were after all
stones, not gems of knowledge.
How can you make a
universal elixir figuratively
put of garbage of
human tongues?
Satish Verma
TOUFIQ UL ALAM, 9 july 2012
She’s got a baby!
A toothless,
Eighteen inches,
Nine pounds,
Pain in the ass!!
He’s got a baby!
It flips and flaps,
And twists and turns.
They’ve got a baby!
It wakes when,
The whole world sleeps.
It screams,
And bangs on your sweet dreams.
But the labored mother,
Nor the fatigued father,
Ever complains.
They are the Parents for you…
TOUFIQ UL ALAM, 9 july 2012
Oh lovely maiden!
My faraway, mystery land!
I've sailed the seven seas,
Fought vicious pirates,
Outran the roaring forties,
Calmed the mutiny and the sailor-men.
Survived the sunken ship,
Swum many a miles,
On to the shore and closer to you.
I then walked the sandy dunes,
Hungry and without water.
Sipped the dewdrops, and eaten,
Unknown fruits; coughed poisoned blood,
With blistered feet on rocky land,
I walked, ran and hid, from the mountain lion,
And walked again,
It was then, I saw you,
Like the fresh morning sun,
Bright but soft on my eyes,
Like the rain drops on the parched Sahara,
Or, like the sweet, cold water to a thirsty traveler.
You are my heaven on earth, my sweet home.
Come my darling dove, come,
Embrace me, kiss me,
Make me forget the pains I took,
Only to see you again.
TOUFIQ UL ALAM, 9 july 2012
I still remember the day we parted, my love,
I still remember the day we went our separate ways.
You did not say anything,
And I did not ask.
But your teary eyes said it all.
Was our love so weak?
Could we not spend the rest of our days,
Together? Could we have not gone,
To the shore of the great ocean,
One more time, where we met for the first time,
Under the crimson sky?
No, our love was strong,
We parted because we loved,
We parted for the love of our mother land.
Your tears made me weak,
But your silence made me strong,
So, I left with a heavy heart,
Not as a coward but as a brave soldier.
Heaven cried that day,
As dews of your saddened mind,
Came down your snow white chicks.
But you said nothing,
And I didn’t ask.
TOUFIQ UL ALAM, 9 july 2012
They stand on the top of the world.
They look down upon us, with those cunning eyes,
As sharp as a cleaver that cuts through your flesh.
Do they feel pity? Oh! So greasy words-to soothe your pain?
Or, to give you hope? Don’t be fooled.
Don’t you see the smirk! They will feed you,
The words of bright future, only to milk you dry.
Want to point your finger? Go ahead!
But pay the undertaker first,
To arrange a room six feet under.
What are you to them have you ever thought?
Mere zooplanktons to feed on.
They shook hands with Lucifer,
They walk the path of Faustus.
Rights? You want to talk about rights?
With them? Your words will never reach their ears.
They buy a nation and its future in the morning,
Only to sell it in the evening.
They raise impious wars on foreign lands,
Because battles earn them living.
I wonder how much a man needs,
To lead a simple life, and to raise a happy family?
I ask, Is the world not enough for you?
Truly only the soil of your own grave,
Can satisfy your hunger.
Rhumour, 8 july 2012
The real world is different for those born within strife,
if they are lucky they may grow to become husband or wife,
but for many, boy soldiers is what they were forced to become,
only eleven years old, but still their burden is to carry a gun.
How many live long enough to know that there are other ways,
within another country they wouldn't have been made military slaves.
Are there men with the courage to stop all the rape and slaughter,
does no one there value the lives of their son and their daughter?
We live in one world though still can remain worlds apart,
some wracked by fear and anger, some blessed with a heart.
There are no quick fixes for those slaves of bomb and gun,
they can't change overnight, they can't call on their mum.
Whole generations are destroyed by such ravaging hate,
can we blame their parents, no, the wicked ways of the state,
conflicts started in some distant past can blight generations,
driven by the blind hate between tribes, faiths or nations...
The futures of so many children lost before they were born,
just when will some chance come for a peaceful new dawn?
Be it Africa, Asia, or the Middle East where they live,
they cannot do as they want, they cannot learn how to give.
Yes we live in one world, but will they ever know ours,
where we watch from a safe distance, news on 24 hours,
they cannot see our fair reality isn't some fairy tale,
their future ever measured in blood splattered gun hail...
United Nations talk while more bodies are found in the street,
murdered by armies of those that they would never once meet,
death by strangers that seek to spread bloody terror to all,
resistance ain't futile, but it must come from everyone's call...
Don't wait for those sick battles to kill ever more,
children and mothers abandoned to die by the score,
peace won't ever come while power rests with evil men,
those with greed that freezes their hearts once again.
Talk has been never been cheaper than when liars speak,
they will say what we want to hear, while killing the meek,
ruling by terror must now be condemned to the past,
along with the leaders that murder the rest of the cast...
©Rhumour
June 7th 2012
Rhumour, 8 july 2012
On that hidden island where we long to be,
nestled as it is in a pure warm azure sea,
where there are no sharks to flee away from,
just young dolphins leaping out for our fun,
afore blowing bubble rings to toss around
underneath the waves that bring a pleasing sound.
The moon is never hidden on the nights it comes to shine
and rainfall will only glisten if your loving hand's in mine.
Shall we trip along the soft shore of fine bleached coral sand,
catching eight inch butterflies that seem to understand,
we'll never try to harm them or take away their food,
so they will stay contentedly, while they are in the mood
We'll sing of our great good fortune,
baritone and conch shell for trombone,
then when the music runs dry, maybe we'll shout
"There's no one home - they all went out"
And other nonsense that will maybe echo
while we never miss any nagging phone falsetto
Such dream places we could perchance still find,
An idyll that lures some corner of my mind,
that seeks safe haven from this harsh run world
and holds hope one day to have fair sails unfurled,
to venture forth with loves energy by my side,
escaping the clutches of pesky memories that hide
all hope of peace and soft romantic scenes,
that may even yet exist outside of dreams.......
©Rhumour
August 8th 2010
eguana, 8 july 2012
Dangerous future, children are expecting
Full of internet connections
Spending their time playing, chatting
Without any restrictions,
New language they are using
Easy for talking and introducing
Only three letters said, to meet a new pal
What is your “ASL”!
No more laughing sounds
Nor at home or around
Faces lost their features
While fingers are typing “LOL”
Thinking is no longer their concern
As long as "Google Search" is there
Asking and browsing all they need
Answers then, on the screen, appeared,
Net addiction that what it seems
Without computers, their world looks weird
Actions might reach the extremes
If anyone with this device interfered.
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