The Guest House - by
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
resilience
In the Snack-bar - by
A cup capsizes along the formica,
/ slithering with a dull clatter.
/ A few heads turn in the crowded evening snack-bar.
/ An old man…
Lyric IX from ‘Jane’ - by
When the first darkness creeps upon the floor
/ Your comfort filters green into my nostrils,
/ There is no need to ask for…
A true poem… - by
A true poem is a thing of awe.
/ A true poem is a struggle unto death.
/ A true poem is another land
/ where…
All of Them - by
Everybody said it was useless
/ Everybody said, “you’re trying to lean on sun dust”
/ that the beloved before whose tree I stand
/ can’t…
Chai ya Jioni - by
Wakati tunywapo chai hapa upenuni
/ Na kuwatazama watoto wetu
/ Wakicheza bembea kwa furaha
/ Tujue kamba ya bembea yetu
/ Imeshalika na imeanza kuoza
/ Na bado kidogo…
Ingo tubane - by
Ingo tubane mu mahoro
/ Duhane amahoro ntiduhane imihoro
/ Ingo tureke gupfa ubusa nk’abasazi
/ Dusangire naho tudasa
/ Dusangire uburaro n’uburamuko.
/
/ Nta kamaro ko kumarana
/ Ubwoko bwaremwe n’lmana
/ Ubwoko…
وطن - by
يا صاحبي لا تبتئس
/ وطن النهار بكرا .. لا يزال
/ والأرض بكر …
/ الحب خلف ضلوعنا ينمو
/ يملأ العمر مقاما آخرا ،
/ لم تزل في…
Dog’s Tail - by
My mother died in 2000 after she learned that all
/ the clocks and calendars had changed, and
/ possibly after she heard about…
Optimism - by
More and more I have come to admire resilience.
/ Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
/ returns over and over…
Tin Roof - by
Wild harmattan winds whip you
/ but still you stay;
/ they spit dust all over your gleam
/ and twist your sharp cutting edges.
/ …
Ilka Blade o’ Grass Keps its ain Drap o’ Dew - by
Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is kind,
/ And hear ye a’ life’s changes wi’ a calm and tranquil mind.
/ Tho’…