Best Colombia Poems
Is freedom given? Is freedom taken?
Should San Andres sit, sit like the beggar?
Beg for freedom, beg to get better,
Or defy the oppressor, and our soul deliver.
Take your freedom, take it now!
For only beggars have no choice,
But we not beggars, we not dumb,
Take your freedom, take it now.
Take your freedom, it will be rough,
Speak it , walk it, sing it loud,
At freedom table, sit and chow,
Take your freedom, make it known.
Take your freedom, take it now!
With prison jail, chain and bars,
Just but few steps, from freedom hall,
Take your freedom, take it all.
Take your freedom, take it all!
Some may say, we will not thrive,
The sea the land blessed, God will provide,
Take your freedom, take it boy!
Take your freedom, take your land!
No more the oppressor, chain our hands,
Nicaragua or Colombia, none we want,
Take your freedom, take it man.
If take not freedom, but candy bars,
Come with offers, low wages brought,
And lies repeated, believe them all,
You’re still slave minded, get freedom y’all.
Take your freedom, and life preserve,
Endure the hardship, with death sentence roam,
Like great Mandela, in South Africa endured,
Take your freedom, free those who’ll come.
Take your freedom, from oppressors hand,
Nicaragua Colombia, distress our land,
Are both slave drivers, from Spain they learned,
Take your freedom, it’s God’s command.
Earthquake
E arth quivers, shakes and quakes violently
A ll around turns dark,the roof and walls begin to crumble
R ight before our very eyes
T o the right and to the left, all around us...
H umans are running for their lives...screaming...
Q uake!!!Quake!!!Get out! Get out now!!!
U nable to get out in time, Men, women
A nd children...are...
K illed instantly, or within seconds
E veryone left, inside, simply dies slowly...as rescue is impossible!
Sad but true 650 dead in Ecuador earthquake so far...will keep rising.
Two cities where I did social missionary work over 20 years ago
are unrecognizable, this week has been devastating for all.
The country has no real means to do rescue work, as heavy machinery
is not readily available, thank God! Mexico and Colombia are helping, as the Ecuadorian people are of humble means and are desperate!
John Derek Hamilton
April30,2016
A boy may play at war with toy type gun,
although less now than in some years ago;
a make-believe endeavor just for fun.
So shocking now, for currently, we know,
some third-world armies train boys very young-
to real war with real guns they go.
These boys, in war garb, with large weapons, flung-
into small tender arms, make life/death calls.
Their childhood, gone- their value goes unsung.
August 25, 2016
~5th Place~
Contest: Knock Us Down With Your Lines
Sponsor: Olive Eloisa Guillermo
Judged: 09/15/2015
The UN has identified 14 countries where children have
been widely used as soldiers. These countries are
Afghanistan, Colombia, the Central African Republic,
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Mali,
Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan,
Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Reference: The Middle East Institute
Friends , while reading the History of the Incas , I came across the wonderous story of their
mail runners , the 'chasquis' ! Kindly read their story !
THE MAIL RUNNERS - ON THE INCA TRAIL !
(COURIER SERVICE)
The Inca Empire during their hey-days, *
Controlled a large Empire of an elongated
shape!
On the western coast of Latin America, -
All the way from parts of Ecuador and Colombia!
With parts of Brazil in the east;
Including Chile and Bolivia in the south and
south-east;
While the Pacific Ocean washed their long western
beach!
Where the great Andes range like a raised spine, -
appeared out of reach!
Yet on the central verge of this Andes’ range,
Was located their capital Cuzco with its grand
defence !
The Incas had no horses or wheels to facilitate
communication,
But had an efficient courier service within their
nation!
They relied entirely on their ‘chasquis’, - those
valiant mail runners,
For sending messages within the Inca Empire!
These runners ran on that historic ‘Inca Trail’,
Crossing gorges(pogos) and mountain tracks, -
before night fell!
And rested at ‘tambos’** during their segmented
race!
Those Incas had no written scripts those days,
And used knots in ropes as coded messages!
These ‘quipus’ at relay stations changed hands,
While their runners took them to the remotes corners
of Inca land!
Their suspension bridges with ropes indigenously
made,
Formed their roadways as their Empire spread!
And those bridges were maintained every year,
By villagers rendering public service to the Inca
Empire!
Those valiant runners could run in a day, -
A distance of 250 miles , as experts say !
And could put to shame the Marathon runners
of our day!
I salute those sturdy Incas for their unique stone
architectures,
Who honored their Gods and their ancestors!
Their ‘chasquis’, those valiant mail runners and
their nimble feet;
Without horses and wheels the Incas ruled a mighty
Empire complete !
-Raj Nandy
Notes :-
* During the fifteenth century Incas were at height of
their power!
**Tambos’= relay stations , for the Mail Runner (chasqui)
to rest and handover the ‘quipu’ containing coded
messages to the next runner - to follow the Inca Trail!
Thanks for reading ! - Raj Nandy
Above the palms I scan the ebon night
With crystal stars reflecting in the dark
The yellow moon is shining on the boat
A crocodile swims by without a sound
A cacophony of sound is stirred in the morn
A shaman greets us with a blessed hand
Three frontiers await us as we drift
In ageless waters of the deep
Pink dolphins leap as we move on
I see a capybara by the shore
The largest rodent in the world
The capuchins all beg for food
Piranhas swivel back and forth
Below the mammoth lily pads
Awaiting all the food that moves
Then pounced upon without delay
The thunderous rain has wet the forest land
Colombia, Brazil and now Peru
With stilted huts and cherub children there
Primordial, the Amazon and I
I'm filled with awe, a conqueror of life
primeval scenes in tense display
These memories will stay until I die
April 26,2015 Memorable Vacations
Shadow Hamilton
spawned in the summer of 1853
these sliced succulent deep fried wonders
resulted from the demands of a complaining customer
whose ******** led our man, a one,
mr. george crum
to do his best to satisfy the putz in question by
replacing the humdrum n’ waterlogged n’ sodden,
slithery,
pommes de terre
with
his
new
&
improved
(as thin as could possibly be imagined),
drenched in salt,
deep fried & sizzling,
immaculate conception.
and as you can imagine, mr. cornelius vanderbilt
(said unruly customer),
whom mr. crum felt would most assuredly send back the creation he just made,
again,
for his money back,
instead
had something of an ****** of the taste buds!
and so these
“saratoga chips”
came to be the next big thing---
satisfying lovers of starch, grease & salt, everywhere.
it didn’t take long for word to get to canada where they buried them things in
dill pickle,
ketchup,
jalapeño & cheddar,
salt n’ pepper,
roast chicken---or to
austria where they soak em’ in garlic, bulgaria, where paprika is the taste of the day—
& colombia boasts
mayonesa y limón,
egypt popularized the kebob & stuffed vine leave essence of zest,
you got oregano chips in greece
you got the overwhelming majority chomping down the tayto’s in ireland
whereas in
russia
it is caviar, crab and
shashlik
which make the people salivate.
regardless of where you are or what you are doing
you can get some kind of potato chip
yes,
you can suck down that sodium & grease
mmmmmmmm
i
myself
am currently in something of a sour cream n’ onion phase---
and i must say
i praise the day
that crum went back in the
kitchen
&
angrily
whipped up a batch of
yummyness
for
vandy
to
suck
down---
commencing
la revolución de patatas fritas.
The beans come from tropical South America.
The biggest producers are Brazil and Colombia.
When you drink that first cup early in the day,
just remember your beverage traveled a long way.
With all the coffee houses in town everywhere,
do you thing their patrons give a damn or care?
From the beginning of time there has been exploration
To undiscovered places by every rich nation
Mans great love for exploring has moved up a gear
He has accepted a new challenge; the final frontier.
Nineteen fifty seven saw the launch of sputnik one
Followed by sputnik two, the space race had begun
Russia was the first off the starting block
America was busy working around the clock.
The following year America entered the race
By sending explorer one up into space
Russia then sent up their first cosmonaut
America then followed with an astronaut.
America was now leading in the race for space
President Kennedy’s wanted a man, on the moons surface
The whole world was watching, they were eager to see
Eagle Landers touchdown in the sea of tranquillity.
Research and development is now taking place
To establish planet Mars as a forwarding base
Future missions will refuel and take on supplies
So astronauts can venture out into darker skies.
Look up on a clear night and look for the space station
Manned by astronauts from more than one nation
Mankind has shown that he has the capability
By developing spacecraft that was once fantasy.
There have been many celebrations and even some tears
Accidents have caused deaths of some brave pioneers
Two NASA space shuttles, Colombia and Challenger
Both exploded above the earth a tragic disaster.
Our sun will die out and mankind needs to survive
A new home is needed so humans can thrive
Mankind will colonise planets that’s a certainty
Using great minds to develop new technology.
Space exploration is new and is painfully slow
In the big scheme of things, we’ve a long way to go
But one day these dreams will become reality
As man ventures further out, beyond our own galaxy.
Written 30th March 2018.
Limerick : Once our Senorita from Sevilla – 9
Once our Senorita from Sevilla
Lied about going to Colombia
Rivals said : You know why !
Others : Her life’s a lie !
Our Saint confessed lie in Iglésia !
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013
Faith that endangers and saves
It was 1988, Bogota, Colombia, during the time of (La Violencia) the 40 year war of insurgents against the government. At the same time Pablo Escobar was wreaking havok, killing and maiming thousands, all who opposed his cocaine empire. Americans who were found in the country were viewed with suspicion (were they DEA agents, were they spies?) I was there with 20 others (all North Americans) we were on a Christian missionary assignment, constructing the national headquarters and Bible publishing factory in a small town 40 kms outside of Bogota. The Bishop was not happy with us building in his town. He called and complained to the Mayor, who then called the Governor who then called the President, who then called the Military to intervene in what they thought was some illegal clandestine activity by Americans. Two convoys of soldiers came without warning, and broke into our compound, soldiers searching and screaming "donde estan los Gringos?" (where are all the Americans?) I was quickly hidden underneath a pile of wood in the carpentry shop, I could see the soldiers with their machine guns, in a frenzy checking everywhere. I prayed fervently for a half hour, supplicating God to save us! Not one of us were found that day!
Faith that endangers
Scorching animosity
God's saving power
For Faith Haibun Contest by Regina Riddle
July 09,2020
a travel nightmare to remember
at age sixteen on a charter plane
to Colombia with the abusive boy friend
ten years older and few worlds of spanish
to meet my future as he put his hooks
and demands at my tender age of fourteen
on the return by myself with a broad view
flying to cartagena for the stop over to refueled
I left the plane and dreamt sitting on a bench
only to realize the flight continued without me
my passport luggage and money left behind
in the front pocket of trustworthy in my seat
Paris far away I started singing in the airport
se va el caiman se va para baranquilla and what to do
scared an hostess at the counter took pity
spend the night at my house was the offer
and will figure it tomorrow and so I shared a bed with tree children
It was sweaty not a breeze felt from the ventilator of heart pounding
but the next day was to enter a plane with the pilots in the cockpit
hidden to reach Miami to meet the group as few words tells a lots
in dire time my spanish improved a conversation of thank you
as I run the circular corridors to catch a plane to Brussels and then a train
My group seeing me missing got my luggage passport but lost the money
and so thankful to be fluent in spanish and the boyfriend got rid off
Hello friends and future friends. I hope my
choice of my poetic form is totally absurd.
I don't even know what an Epithalamium is;
so if you are looking for this form, I'm sorry
to disappoint. I haven't posted in awhile, and
perhaps it may be a bit instead of me just
blurting out my mind through my mouth.
I just got vack from a recent trip to
Cartagena, Colombia and have been
writing a collection.
I am going to title it "poems from a broard";
the broad in this case is mi Musa Melissa.
(Maureen, Melissa said you are beautiful
and kept saying "weeeeee" [your last comment]
Presently I am trying to organize poems that
I wrote on my trip as well as a lot written in the
airport waiting to reluctantly leave Cartagena.
Please por favor keep in mind that I would like
to present this as if a book; but know only 10
poems for a period of 24 hours.; so hang in
there with me and I will start to share.
Thanks to all the folks I have met here,
and the folks I hope to meet. Blessings!!!
My coffee still proud
halfway from the mouth.
Golden in light.
It's glow from the south.
A cup made of paper
rolled to a cone
with a lustre of candy
that's sweet and alone.
Invisible vapours
float on the surface
sealing heat in
for their miniature purpose.
Staggered clear bubbles
floating on top.
Some of them larger
that some are going pop.
All with a flavour
as rich as the beans.
Thanks for Colombia,
the pickers and machines.
Im scared of shadow people on the wall I hope
the phone dont ring at all Im locked down in this
cell better known as ****ing hell
Colombian plant supreme got me wanting to
scream got me wanting to scream got me
Paranoid like a feind Colombia supreme got
me wanting to scream got me wanting to scream
got me Paranoid like a feind
I love it and I hate it How it makes me feel this way nite and day
Cant escape the feelings from yesterday the pain and deppression
the overwhelming obsession the tales you will never know at my descression
Colombian plant supreme got me wanting to
scream got me wanting to scream got paranoid
like a feind Colombia supreme got me wanting
to scream got me wanting to scream got me
Paranoid like a feind
I feel it deep down in my soul this
white ***** finally has control I cant
escape the thoughts in my head maybe
im better off dead
colombia supreme got me wanting to scream
got me wanting to scream gotme wanting to
scream got me paranoid like a feind
Each morning the curtains were drawn because I didn’t have the energy to see the sun ..
I dragged myself in slow motion from my slumber and painfully washed my face , this took hours and days to wash the darkness away ...
and it was still only 9am
my thoughts on the mountain I had to climb that day , to finally reach the top .
I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror and I am back in my bed again like Groundhog Day , each morning my curtains were drawn because I didn’t have the energy to see the sun and it began again, the darkness of the abyss dragging me into its pit ... that was the journey of my soul for a few years and a bit..
I would watch the water flow from my tap ... and think .. look look at the wonder and miracle of that ...
I would taste the finest coffee and walk the mountains of Colombia in my mind and this very thought would help me on my way .. up the mountain we climb x
The sweetness of chocolate , a heavenly pleasure , a taste of grace , though my spirit may have been tortured I am grateful for the emergence and pleased to be awake .