David de la Croes, 21 june 2013
A brisk autumn breeze
causes a thousand goodbyes -
reluctant leaves leave.
David de la Croes, 21 june 2013
At the stump of the fig tree
where sweetness and fragrance
have long departed
a rain spider has built a nest
of autumn-dried leaves
covered with a blanket
of delicate silk.
I stand and watch
the little spiders
coming out to play
in smooth fur jackets -
first, a game of tag
and then a fencing game
with slender long legs.
Soon they will spread out
and scurry around in the hunt for food;
raising neck hairs and bring shrieks of terror
as they intimidate nervous children and wives.
David de la Croes, 16 may 2013
I wanted to write you a poem,
but there are not enough words
in all the languages of the world
to express the essence of your being.
I wanted to paint you a picture
to exhibit the warmth and brightness
and beauty you bring to my life
but there are not enough colours
in the spectrum of light to illustrate
the intense vividness of your presence.
I wanted to compose
you a symphony to give harmony
to all the music you bring to me
but there are not enough notes
in the musical scale to bring forth
the melodious nature of your being.
And so I write this simple letter to say:
You are my first thought in the morning,
and the last thought at night,
and in all the moments in between
I constantly think and dream of you.
I love you. Always.
David de la Croes, 16 may 2013
You were gone before my mind
could grasp the brush which paints
faces on memory's canvas.
Vaguely, flashes of an open grave
on a sunny winter's day -
bare feet on my fourth birthday -
and pitiful looks from unfamiliar faces.
But I remember lonely childhood days
when I would visit your grave
bringing flowers picked from sandy fields -
And other times I would just come and cry
when it seemed I was the only child
in the whole wide world without a mother.
Poverty sent you to an early grave
and was my childhood's constant shadow.
Of all your children I was the lonesome one,
always seeking solace in solitude,
always wandering in lonely paths,
an exile from embracing arms
and motherly healing kisses.
Through the years I tried to reconstruct you
through siblings' tales of your mothering,
Although heredity ensures that part of you
will live in me and will continue in my off-spring
I felt I needed more than scientific fact
to find meaning in my sense of being.
Death has stripped me of you
but death has no power over love.
I am a fruit of your love, and as long
as I am able to approach someone in love,
I am connected to you. You are long gone.
I am still your son.
David de la Croes, 29 april 2013
When I first realized that I loved you
I became afraid, for I felt exposed,
surrounded by the broken-down fences
I had painstakingly built as protection
for my fragile emotions and great fears
against a cold and indifferent world.
Suddenly, without warning, my safe world
was changed as I gave free entry to you
into my heart, and in spite of my fears,
I willingly my complete being exposed -
seeking the nestling warmth and protection
and the safety of love's strong fences.
I found that love was not caged, and fences
were not needed to live in its blissful world,
where affection was its own protection
and the sharing of life's journey with you
could allow unknown joys to be exposed
and assurances could replace past fears.
As our love grew and flowered, and past fears
were eroded with abandoned fences
I became strong, despite being exposed
to the changes of an evolving world.
I felt secure and contented with you -
In your loving care I found protection.
And through the years, love's certain protection
has shielded us against life's storms and fears
And as I have walked at the side of you
I found a paradise, without fences,
where we have built our own beautiful world,
filled with love, and our joy could be exposed.
Now we have grown old and by age exposed
our bodies frail, each limb needs protection.
As we move slowly in a twilight world
and confront diverse and alarming fears
I seek strength in my memory's fences
recalling joyous times and days with you.
A soul exposed to true love knows no fears.
The protection of your love's strong fences
secure my world - I will always love you.
David de la Croes, 29 april 2013
(Poem for my granddaughter)
I just found out that you visited here
while I was away at work -
and that you left a few minutes before my arrival!
Ah! Your sweet presence
would have been such a balm
for my tired and aching body -
having traveled by bus, and train, another bus,
and then dragged for a thousand metres
through blustering winds.
And now I must find consolation
in the traces of your presence -
the imprints of your feet on the bathroom tiles,
and the faint lingering echoes of your laughter,
and the fading silhouette where you sat watching cartoons.
Although you live in my heart, I still miss you, sweet child!
David de la Croes, 27 march 2013
Thank you, my dearest, for loving me
and being there for me in times of need
and embracing me completely
with your whole being, and so tenderly
my desires with great kindness feed;
therefore I thank you for loving me.
Your love has brought me a potpourri
of pure delights, and through word and deed
you embrace my being completely.
Your love fills my soul with harmony
that I can with joy on life's way proceed;
therefore I thank you for loving me.
Your affection, with grace and beauty,
has made my life wholesome and sweet,
embracing my being completely.
From loneliness you set me free
and my heart will these words always beat:
Thank you, my dearest, for loving me
and embracing me completely!
David de la Croes, 26 march 2013
I have seen a rainbow
in a small drop of dew
and a flight to freedom
in an abandoned shoe
and in a beggar's face
I have, O God, seen You.
I have heard the dawn break
as the morning greets us
and the despairing cry
of an aborting fœtus
and in words of comfort
does Your kind voice exists.
I have felt the trembling
of those who fear the night
and the hope created
by a flickering light
Your gentle touch, O God
brings my soul full delight.
I have smelled the nectar
in tall stems of flowers
and the cool refreshment
of the gentle showers
the fragrance of your love
sweetens, O God, my hours.
I have tasted goodness
of unselfish givers
and the sweetest waters
of free-flowing rivers
Your grace, O loving God,
let me taste divine bliss.
David de la Croes, 15 march 2013
May your day be clad
in bright chitenge,
and your ears filled
with the music of falling waters!
Lwa mitonda , kaizeli!
See us run with arms outstretched
like the wings of an airplane
because, if we could, we would fly to you;
see our encircling, turning legs
like those of sprinting cyclists
because, if we could, we would pedal to you;
see us hop, in a sitting posture
like that of a crazy taxi driver
because, if we could, we would race to you.
But we would rather have you here with us
Africa ya kutonda, kaizeli!
Ku tezi batu - we are waiting for you
Utwa, ba andamisa - come dance with us.
While distance separates you from us
we talk about you, smile, and say:
Mutu yo munde ki ya na ni sikoka kwa batu;
and we want you to remember always:
Ku sebeleza Mulimu, ki makalelo a butali.
Be blessed, dear sister!
We wish you peace, we wish you joy
and above all, we wish you love.
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