My Best Bouquets
Exotic crocuses and ferns, Appalachian Trail …
Baby’s breath that takes one’s breath away -
Orchids and epiphytes near inland waters of KwaZulu-Natal
A few from Fynbos, near Table Mountain
Even a national flower, the Protea, illegal
To take (when we camped only once, New Year’s weekend, when I was innocent and practising Yoga)
From my mountain, near my grandest river, the Tugela ...
At the Drakensberg. Even my street had that Name
They are not on my table, here in Virginia
No, not even in Maryland, a Great State …
Nor in Athens (Ohio) where all roads lead to
(or leave forever)
Nor even in some backyard, of friend or former foe
I never picked these. Not one!
The Universe thanked me for Consenting Consciousness
For sharing more of Presence, less of clutter and Form
When all forms go, only Consciousness - the One - remains.
God Bless You
Before me lay the Dust of us all
Treated by us all as an orphaned babe
The sun scalded my tan
You, you gathered under layers of clothes
- the difference and similarity of us both
Yet the Tugela rages, the Vaal turns; they run as bold as ever
And, as the land spoke sweetly
And, as the Berg stood firmly
And, as the Indian met the Atlantic in dance
– in harmony, in a song choired breathe –
Arms twisted taut
We scarred the pulse that moves us on
The father threw the gold at his feet
jumping on it, unfettered and drunk
The Earth’s reclaim now and her child’s shame
Now as the rains fall we hold tight
To gather the orphan
To gather the Dust
To gather as one
Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika
We created love with warmth
Dongas and forests felt it
I heard a polite voice of love
Its said we peservered
We created love beautifully, it grew like trees of the forest, that grows next to the Tugela rivers, where the birds of white feathers live,
Like flowers blossoms, happy for the spring.
I thank for our togetherness
Patience, respect and care
These are the foundations of our love. Our strength strengthen our love
She slow- slips feet in poems
Tears trickle from sky- high eyes
down earth's cheeks to find the stream
I love your long water veils
abseiling splashed self down,
streaming gently life's sheer sails
Father shows me a true source-
Tugela springs from plateau
spread out with windblown scrub.
Symbiosis exists here.
Vague thoughts of Virginia
wading, stone-weighted pockets
dragged her down deep to depths...
A mind burst by selfdoubt's clouds
touch my unresistant heart.
There's only one way to go,
trained by firmament's full flow-
downpour your loyal consort
sending mind subservient-
twisting those transcendant traits
through trails of least resistance
Aah, River! You flow fullsome
as you rush, rapids gushing
roughshod through brim-filled banks.
Thunder hails soaking cloudbursts-
Storms suit well- recessed levels-
Overflow forms new outlets
shaped by pushing poweshift.
Repost from 07/03/2016, in reverse, with adjustments...sometimes just have to change life's direction... : )Reposted: 13/10/2016
UTOPIA POETRY CONTEST BY 03/28/2017
Hell cannot tell of its attractions, I assume
I searched for brochures on the internet
I even went to the Library of Congress last June!
Does heaven win merely by default?
But neither have I known any heaven –
Except those times in southern climes
When near Tugela river, I climbed mango trees with cousins
(They were not monkeys, only favorite relations).
I am reading an old book, now, called “Book”
It must be Greek to me, to you, and to everybody
“Libro” and “Libris” are familiar Latin roots
This old book does talk of freedom and liberty
To get free I would have to die, first – maybe twice
And I am no longer sure if I‘d been baptized
In the right places, the three times that come to mind;
Some say “You can be sure,” or “Once saved, always saved!”
From what? Perhaps they mean “hell” by contrast
But if I have to forgive enemies here, and live with them there, -
With no toilet paper, nor marriage, nor future and past …
It's time I began making heaven right now, right here!
© Anil Deo, 20170326
Don't go now
My heart is drought
Stricken for love
The eyes of the tugela river
Beg us to stay in love
As the salty sweat runs along a smooth path on my back
The sun burning my skin to the finest of nature's browns
My heaving eyelids are slightly lifted to one of Africa's superb monuments...
Endless views and beauty,
Unlimited splendour to the creator of such a splendid sight
Continous like a nation of its own
How many have had the bravery to climb
Curiosity pondering my mind at what each experience was like
And to finally have a tiny taste
To experience it on my own
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