Altho' fearless it was flightless
I do declare
and when it found itself earthbound
was the dodo despondent in despair
or even think
it would become extinct
if it knew it was in
deep doo-doo
somewhat akin
to the the missing link
unafraid of man
who thought them dumb
as they come
on the quiet
an easy prey for sailors
a whole new different dinner diet
but there was nothing to be done
for suspiciously delicious
history they could never outrun
or ever leave Mauritius
With compass and sextant, paper and ink,
Bungaree, Nanbaree, Matthew and George
and a cat and a crew were at sea.
They went sailing and sailing, around and around
in Eighteen Hundred and Three.
The Investigator’s navigator calculated space
by meridians and parallels to draw Australia’s place.
With Tasmania as an island, and Bass Strait in between,
he mapped the coastal outlines with ink like lines of lace.
On an island east of Africa, where dodos used to roam,
he wrote a book, and drew more maps, in prison, far from home.
He’d travelled as a scientist; he’d met Frenchman, Baudin,
but, here to mend a leaking boat, they would not let him go.
The governor of the Isle de France let pirates prowl the sea,
but arrested Matthew Flinders as a spy and enemy.
Around Good Hope, after the siege -
from Mauritius, now British (not French),
back to London, sailed Matthew Flinders,
not knowing his days were brief.
Map-maker, map-maker, making a map,
right ’round Australia, and finally back.
Map-maker, map-maker, thanks for the book,
of Terra Australis and the journeys you took.
DISCOVERY
Searching for what is extinct
I travelled to Mauritius
And ventured in the jungle
A Dodo – it’s you!
Extinction
The Dodo lived happily on Mother Earth in tune with her heart and the world keeps on turning in search for food , nature does as nature does , a means to survive on the Island of the Dodo the island of of Mauritius ...The Albatross of the seas the guardians of sails , the sirens of a storm and the world keeps on turning in the winds of dis-ease and in the end the Dodo is no more and the Albatross sets sail for war ...
Dodo
Dross Oh Dross the Dodo sang to the Albatross
the spider caught an ant , the Blackbird in the garden found an early worm ,
Tom was on the kitchen prowel crouching very low , a mouse amongst the long grass twitches his fearful nose
Above the eye
An Eagle Spies
Comes into swoop
Drat Drat the Dodo sang to the Albatross
the spider caught an ant , the Blackbird in the garden found an early worm ..
Tom was on the kitchen prowl crouching very low , a mouse amongst the long grass twitches his fearful nose
Above the eye
An Eagle Spies
Comes into swoop
mouse takes a leap of faith
Caught in Tom's sabre tooth.
The Dodo, it’s curious
Lived down in Mauritius
A bit east of Madagascar,
You can’t get there with your car.
It’s an island, and it’s quite remote
But you wouldn’t need an overcoat
You won’t get there with your time machine
Unless your machine floats.
Right off the Indian continent,
If a Dodo was incontinent
What would he wear not to spill content?
Well, that just Depends…
‘Cuz how would they pull them up,
Or change them when they’re full up?
A question supposable
When they haven’t the opposable.
A question pretty clumsy
And I'm just all thumbsy
And it doesn't matter, 'cuz they're all extinct,
I just know that it stinks.
There’s one thing I’m sure I know
If I had a pet Dodo
I might call him Bilbo
But more likely it would be Frodo
And I’d have me a hobbit hole
For all of those Depends, you know
And that's where all the dirties go,
And I’d call it Bag End.
H/T to Terry Flood’s Do Dodos Do Doo Doos
I
No, my dearies, beautiful Grace did not weep that day
It is a matter of weeping over grace at mealtime
Not to make a federal case out of it, but one day
Alone, did say grace, knew my veggies were divine
II
The tears began to fall: "Jesus, your amazing provision!"
Vegetarian I was, but only cook veg in my home
I recalled islands I toured: Trinidad, Mauritius, Reunion
When it was harder to eat well, as I was not alone
III
Not bragging, but since that day I'm aware Jesus is near
Very interested in my food preferences, always proving
His title, "Jehovah Jireh" even as He took Isaac's spear
When we walk with Him, plain food becomes communion!
NOTE: In Genesis 22, Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to prove to God he, Abraham, is obedient & trusting in the Resurrection. When the Angel stopped the killing, a ram was substituted. High up a mount, all alone, a single male sheep? Caught & crowned by thorns? That was a Christophany, previewing Jesus' willingness to die in our place. In this chapter we find God revealing this aspect of His provisoning for His flock: YHWH Yireh
Before it was Camp Justice and a U.S. military base,
Diego Garcia was a peaceful paradise, a beautiful place.
The U.S. and U.K. wanted the island swept and sanitised,
Depriving the community from basic supplies.
Never an uninhabited island, the residents were secretly expelled,
First they killed their dogs, a warning to those who rebelled.
Forced off their land onto a filthy cargo ship,
The slums of Mauritius, the beginning of their hardship.
Others were deported to the Seychelles to live a life of poverty,
No food, no water, not even a piece of property.
Ministers and officials mounted a campaign of deception,
Showing the citizens of the island no love or affection.
26 families dead by the end of 1975,
While the rest done their best just to survive.
In 1982 they demonstrated in the streets of Mauritius,
A peaceful protest that really embarrassed the British.
Bruce Greatbatch and Harold Wilson had no conscience or no shame,
And there’s plenty of more involved, just too many to name.
Taken from their blue ocean and beautiful white sand,
Now they’re British citizens who can’t return to their land.
That pensive look on her sweet face
Just like a child of mine.
Her eyes seem to follow you with
Dominion that's divine.
Northwest light on soft blush hued cheeks
Her grey-green eyes lay bare
Perhaps a secret rendezvous
In enigmatic stare.
Wet lips stained as if with cherries
Delft blue scarf hides her hair...
In penchant blossom of her youth
Portrait of beauty rare.
From her left ear hangs gracefully
One solitary pearl.
Melancholy hints, she may be
A woman, yet a girl.
May 3, 2017
Note:
Johannes Vermeer's 'Girl with a pearl earring'
c.1665 Mauritius Museum, The Hague.
The Dutch artist was born in Delft in 1632-1675.
One of the key paintings in Vermeer's oeuvre,
this portrait resists all attempts at the precise
identification of the sitter. It's charm, perhaps,
lies in the fact that it is an evocative expression
of timeless female beauty. I viewed this masterpiece
in 2009. She has the entire wall to herself.
My town is a floral one, known in French as
"La Ville des Fleurs," for, it is one so beautifully gardened
It is, in the island, the place where I roam about, fully at ease
For it is a town, which has been always, since its birth, so well governed!
A town it is, found in the middle of the island, nearly on the plateau
It fans chilly winds in winter, and cool freshness in summer
If I could, I would have built here my own chateau
For here, one gets to feel that living is as delicious as an appetizer!
I would leave it never, however strong may be the pulls of adventure
I would leave it never, for here I get to live as I want to
Giving my time equally to both duty and leisure
Why, in my town, I do even get to see and write of life through!
Pray, my island is well known as a tropical paradise, it gives the world a thrill,
Yet, my town is the place which bids my heart and breath to never stand still!
Written for Contest "Sonnet about where you live"
Sponsored by: Silent One
I live in Mauritius and my home town in called Quatre Bornes
28 Dec 2016
Her skin color looking like a highlighted shade
Of the African brown soil
Her hair looked like a leafless tree
Its roots floating onto the naked ocean figured like the curve
Of an African woman
Her lazy eyes looking like the moon of raise
Her nose shaped like the earth
Her cheeks blushing like a butterfly in the garden of Eden
Her smile like the sun in the open sky
White teeth looking like the clouds gold teeth in middle like the sun
Her lips looking like a Mauritius resort
Her voice singing like birds with cellos, pianos and guitars
Her neck looking like waterfall flowing down
Her boobs looking like two straight separate mountains
Her stomach looking like an African beach
Her legs and arms looked like the river streams flowing into the ocean
The sweet, southern, African piece
With an un-random bush
Oh lovely Netherlands, you are now my second home.
You leave me thrilled and enchanted where ever I roam.
I smiled when floating down streets made from the sea,
Touring on charming glass covered canal boats with glee.
There’s beauty in the coolness of a windswept day,
As I rode the wind on my bicycle and joyously flew away.
Then I set out to visit famous paintings I was shown.
Each lovely museum has a quaint charm all its own.
One famous museum displayed art of Vincent van Gogh.
It has a cool theatre inside, most tourists don’t know.
I just had to visit Den Haag’s St. Mauritius to view
Vermeer’s “Girl with a pearl earring” and other art too.
I toured through Madame Tussaud’s Wax museum happily.
Johnny Depp and George Clooney were there waiting for me!
Oh lovely gardens of Keukenhof, my time’s worth BEST spent.
I’ll never forget your bright tulip hues with their heavenly scent.
Hartelijk bedankt oh lovely Netherlands, land of the free.
Alstublieft, alstublieft I beseech you, don’t forget me.
April 22, 2014
*Hartelijk bedankt - heartfelt thanks
*Alstublieft – please
My motherland, the land of four colors, the land of sweetness
As is described by its rich history, filled with wars and battles
United it stands today, giving freedom to each and every son of its soil
Revered as the land of the sun, sea and sand, the beaches, the golden skin
It is where was found the lost Dodo, killed till its last by those hungry colonizers
The land where I took birth, the land I admire, the land away from which I shall not survive
Imagination pours strongly in every corner of this island, be it in songs or in poetry
Unmistakably the jewel of all the Indian Ocean
Sweet is its fragrance, sweet is its beauty, my homeland it is!
A small retreat surrounded by the blue lagoon
Loved by all those who upon seeing its nature, do swoon!
Rising sun so soft,tender
like your forehead's red bindi
splashes colour in my mind
another new dawn.
=========000==========
Contest name--Red Sun
Date--- 24th June 2013
Bindi--A bindi ( Sanskrit bindu, meaning "a drop, small particle, dot"), or a pottu/bottu (in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam) is a forehead decoration worn in South Asia (particularly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Mauritius) [1] and Southeast Asia. Traditionally it is a bright dot of red color applied in the center of the forehead close to the eyebrows, but it can also consist of a sign or piece of jewelry worn at this location.
Have you heard of the dodo?
Where did they go?
Those birds were so precious.
They lived on Mauritius.
As a species among the rest,
it must have failed the survival test.
A few centuries ago, they went away.
None of them can be seen today.
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