When the spirits have a limp

Our fathers told us 

And we believed 

That the spirit is behind the mask

The spirits of our ancestors

Who receive the libations 

And eat the kola nut before it is shared

Our fathers told us

Of the dragons our ancestors slayed

And we dance to the songs

That celebrate their might on moonlit nights

We pride our selves 

As the children of giants

So the masks and the spirits

Garlands our prestige

And struts our heritage 

In the market place

For the old to nod their heads

And the young to glow with pride

Until  now 

The music is the same

And the masks are the same

But the spirits have a limp

And our children are wondering

No, they are looking at us

Like we are liars

Was it the limp that slew the dragon?

The heavens they say are falling

The heavens they say are falling

Billowy clouds swooshing towards the grass in the lawn

Pressing down the peeking seedlings that overslept

With the weight of their tenuousness 

Rolling ponderously across the horizon as the wind also seeks shelter

The heavens they say are falling

Stars jostling for space to shoot

Across and straight down in a fiery rain 

A riot of flaming blizzards caught out in the summer day

As the Sun itself bears down from his perch above the skys

We can feel the universe contracting at pace

Shrinking us into squirming corners and then chasing us out of even those

Until we close our eyes since there is nothing to see any more

As the silence subdues the chaos

And nothingness replaces the beingness and we can take a breath

Take a deep breadth

And stand up with our hands raised palms against the firmament that has come this close

We can now open our eyes and see that we are still here and the heavens are still going about her journey

From millenium to millenium.  

Aleksandr, my friend

 Aleksandr,  my friend

I am sitting outside in the evening sun

I can see the sun closing her lashes

Shyly and regrettably

As the embers in our grill

Slowly turn to cold ash

And all I think about

Is where we will scatter your ash

Because Aleks, I know you won’t come back

Yes, we clapped your back

And joked about drones and camouflage and ambushes

We hailed your courage but 

Really that was the beer

And some hashish and whatever else was in that cocktail.

If you looked closely

You would have seen the fear behind the laughter

The horror at the death raining through the picnic tent

Through the apartment window where grandma used to rock her chair.

You’ve walked off into the distance

Teeth clenched , fist clenched 

To fight the battle that has come

Uninvited to your home. 

The beer is now tasteless

And the Twitter feed has dried up

And we are afraid that the shells

Did not consider your sacrifice

Nor your hugs,

Aleksandr, my friend. 

(For all those killed fighting for  their country in Ukraine )

Things happen

Things happen, my brother,

Like the chair that loses a leg

When it’s your turn to sit 

Or the sparrow flitting in the evening sun

Whose poop aligns so well

With your freshly made hair. 

Things happen, my brother

In that second between action

And your planned reaction

Between the promise and the failure

That causes your mouth to open

Things happen, my brother

Out of the blue

Out of the haze 

And sometimes clearly in your mind's eye

You know it will happen as it will happen

But not in the time and not in the space

Things happen, my brother

Life wanders as it ebbs

From minute to minute

Before a final accident

And then hopefully

You are at rest. 

A long way from home

The migrating kite

Is a long way from home

Even though he soars

Across the skies

Spying the mouse

Hidden in the eaves

He is a long way from the nest

He has built for his old age

Amongst the branches of an Iroko tree

Even as he scours the ground

Of a familiar turf

Where the chicken hides from his shadow

As he lofts on the currents

Wings spread out to catch the wisps

And soak the energizing rays of the sun

He still remembers the lay of his nest

And the feel of the twigs in his perch

High up amongst the Iroko leaves

While the kite is alive

And the currents still flow

With the rays pointing toward the west

And the clouds fleeing towards the east

With the mouse not straying from the eaves

And the chicks beneath their coop

Home is still a long way away

I will stand up again

I make notes to my self

writing in the stillness of recollections

one after another 

the goals missed

the excuses given

the chickens come home to roost

and you know the day is at the end

and the count of feathers falling

and the volume of tittering

inspires your dread of failure

but I will stand up again

older and wiser and better

because the sun will come out

and the chicks will hatch

the cocks and the cockerels will raise their voice

and we all go out again

to do that which must be done.

Gift me a lotus tree

 Gift me a lotus tree

Gift me a lotus tree

In a garden hidden in a crater

With a tranquil lake 

And sharp cliffs standing guard

All at attention from the valley to the clouds

Let my chores be simple

To sit beside the lake

And besides the tree

To lift a finger and curl a flower

Down from a languid branch

To slowly munch the petals

Savouring the juice slowly 

Slowly seeping further than where the blood gets to. 

Gift me a lotus tree

On a tranquil island 

Bang in the middle of this crater lake

Let my dreams be simple

To stare into the turquoise lake

With a smile on my face and peace in my heart

To blank my thoughts to the urge

Of the tumult beyond the cliffs standing guard around this crater

To still the wanderlust beyond the tree and her flowers

To slowly munch the petals

Savouring the juice slowly 

Slowly seeping further than where the blood gets to. 

Gift me a lotus tree

And the island

And the blankness that follows

Let my joys be permanent

A flower away, arm's length away

A smile without a sweat

Contentment without assets

just the urge to sit and gaze at the tree and her flowers

To slowly munch the petals

Savouring the juice slowly 

Slowly seeping further than where the blood gets to.