Addies and Tropa’s wedding

You stand together
The threshold of your future
Before the great sea of Words
Eternity
Going back to the Source
Jungles within oceans
Corrals,,,Waterlilies
Tangled roots of Generations
Of fathers encircling around your hearts
Webs holding you together
As you both venture forth
To the dawn of many mornings
Tenderness twines around both of you
Giving you the love and strength
To sacrifice for each other
To live for the happiness of each other
Hold each other sacred
Within the inner temple of your hearts
Loving only each other passionately

Build your house facing the Light
Of a strong foundation
Of compassion and kindness
Not to be washed out by the sea
But build your walls strong
With patience, compassion, empathy and the All-forgiving
To be able to overcome any obsticle
Firmly rooted in the sand
So that it can withstand anything
Any storm….any wind
Bare your souls to God
That no matter what difficulties
He will bring you peace of mind
Always look at each other
No matter how old you become
Like the day you first laid your eyes
On each other
The day you fell in love…and always every day
You will love each other more
And you will never see
The person grow older..
They will grow more beautiful
Because your love makes
Your Beloved more beautiful

Lilies at Twilight

The lily pads are purple to reflect the setting sun. The water is orange and gold to reflect the last rays of the sun. I was inspired by Monet’s water lilies and wanted to try my own rendition. The water lily is the national flower of Bangladesh.

No More War!

The woman sings in her kitchen
Children play outside before dinner
Husbands come home from work...tired
Some from fields, factories or office
Strikes up a conversation with his wife
Gathers his children in his arms
As they sit and eat together
All beneath a late afternoon sun
Which shines on us all
The sun does not discriminate

But now silence...
Except for bombs
Beneath the sun
Lies makeshift graves
Of men who will never come home again
Children who will never again to feel his arms
Widows will wail instead of sing
No longer a kitchen...no longer a Home
Children and women unprotected
Just to disease and hunger
Nameless...faceless
As if it were a mistake to be born

It could be Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir
Places we once called Home
Burned beyond recognition

When we will pass away
There will be no color to identify ourselves
There will only be One Reality
Our feet and hands will speak
Bear witness
To what we have done to our fellow man

The Magnolia Tree

The Magnolia Tree

Here lies my daughter in my arms
Another child lies dying
Because of war
In her mother's arms
While the world
Trembles aggressively
Yet, still the magnolias
Sway calmly unaware
With the confines of my garden
As the seasons casually unfolds themselves
Since I was a child
I am tired of watching these pages turn
My time a routine...cut into sections
Watching my face grow older
Not keeping my youthful promises

Here lies my daughter in my arms
Watching in fascination
The magnolias so unearthly pink
Bloom so fully within a week
To her a week is endless
But to this week will be unnoticed by me
Where is my cause...my duty
To be blinded by the mundane
I want to so much take these dying children home
Claim the homeless...feed the starving
Rock them in my arms at night
Empathize with their mother's grief
Realize their small lives

Here lies my daughter in my arms
The wind has blown at the end of the week
The now rotting blossoms
To the ground
She notices....asks why they have fallen
Yes...child, another spring has passed
The world is unsafe...and I am helpless
I feel that I can do nothing

A Piece of Me

The stars have fallen down in worship
And between the stars
There is so much longing
And you have become a piece of me
Buried beneath the muscle of my heart
The nightingale cries
And the wind blows through
Moonlit trees
As I sit here on this prayer rug
All of nature rushes into me
The leaves, the trees, the vines
Enter the windows
And wrap around me
I want this marriage
Between you and I
That I have imagined
And not to be a facet of the dream
But to be a part of the Real
Beyond ritual and culture
The false reality of day
Blinds me
Despite the beauty of your signs
At night..all the masks drop off
You are closer than the juggler vein
Of my neck
I tremble with love and fragility
As I prostrate myself
Before you

Finding Home

Empty hours
Like starless nights
Filled with longing...longing
For something more
The painful cold
Only to imagine you
Within the corner of my heart
Cold...cold
Bitter cold
I am trembling
This winter seems
To never end

I dream of spring
Beneath moonlit skies
Orion in South
Like a father
Looking down
Gardens in moonlight
Wildflowers like lace
Upon fields
I dream of caves
Standing waist deep
In healing waters
My head bowed down in worship
And I have learned
How to profoundly love
As your light
Envelopes me
I know that you will remain
With me....
And within my heart
You will find a Home

Muir Woods

muir woods
I am walking hand in hand within this tall woods with you
At first, it is covered in mist and fog
High upon a mountain top
I had to search for You
I had to make the twisted climb
With much effort
The picture of You and I together
I held so tenderly within my youth
Looking at thoe early mornings
All contrasting and soft colors
I had yearned for his tender handhold
I had yearned to find You
Within the clock of Nature
For You were home to me
Within the Walled Entrance
Of Eternal Acceptance
Taste of the Light
I wanted so badly
For You...For only You
Many paths I took the wrong directions
Manny times finding myself
At the bottom again
Many times feeliing hopeless
Feeling he tears within my mouth
But to me..the struggle was worth it
If it would guarantee your love
For this solitary, imperfect pilgrim
If it would guarentee what I searched for
My whole life
Then the struggle is worth it
To have you in Reality
And not in a dream
Or to be deceived by others
but to be with You in that mist filled
Sun-shafted forest forever
That is my dream