Posted in Home is where the heart is

Asylum Seeker..

I felt I wanted to share this story again. My hero Solomoni used to help us in our garden. He had to return to Malawi because his wife was ill. We were worried when we had no word from him but we knew his resources were limited.
A friend of his managed to find out that he is okay and his wife is recovering from Malaria.
His struggle is shared by so many around the world.
It’s heartbreaking….

solomoni

The night
he crossed the border,
he left his heart behind.
He tried to hold back the tears,
as he thought of his sad departure
and his brokenhearted family.

The truck that brought him here
traveled for many days.
He was tired and hungry
and missing home.
The journey was hard to bear,
but he knew
he had to keep going.
He had to find a way
to put food on his family’s table.
Many had made the journey
before him.

His wife and children wept
when they saw him go,
but somehow
they understood the necessity.
The cupboards were empty
and their threadbare clothes
reminded them
why he had to go.

He knew he was the one
who could make the long journey.
He was strong enough,
fearless enough to make a home
in a foreign land.
He longed to hold them in his arms
to hush their frightened tears.

He didn’t see them for years
he sent his wages home.
He slept at night alone,
praying in the darkness,
not knowing when he would return.

He tended gardens lovingly,
and he sang to make time go by.
He dreamed of starting a business
in the small village
where he lived.
But he knew resources where scarce
in his country of birth.

A heroic man,
far from his home.
He left the warm heart of Africa,
an asylum seeker,
to make a better life for his family.
He has bravely born illness, injury,
and even imprisonment,
never complaining.
He is bright and cheerful
and thankful for the little he has.
He is an example to many
a bright and shining star!

…..and in spite of everything he went through, he kept telling me that “God is good”

©2017

Posted in Magical

Go down to the water…

“Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing!”
― Richard Rohr

lagooning

When disquiet grows heavy
and the world is strange,
I go down to the water,
where tones change.

Seabirds call
and skip across the sands,
the magic of creation,
makes no demands.

The gentle skies above me,
the echoing waves,
inner turmoil calms,
and brings me back to praise!

©AllysoAlly2018

Posted in daydreaming

Tea and sympathy

“A cup of tea would restore my normality.”
[Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Screenplay]”
― Douglas Adams

tea and sympathy

Alone
with her thoughts,
her tinnitus sang,
breaking her silence.

Distant pounding,
was that her heart,
aching to be heard?

Melancholy hung
in the cold air,
motionless,
touching her senses,
and the ceiling
pressed down!

All was still,
except the chaos
of her mind.

Her eyes darted
to the window,
a world beyond
where frailty broke apart…

Too many answers required
to resolve
blatant curiosity.
She knew she was in hiding!

Was this cup the chalice
of tears
poured out,
in loneliness,
the warm fluid
trickled down,
bringing solace
to an otherwise
dull afternoon?

Nuances
of Childhood memories,
sprang to life.
A time traveler,
back when
English tea parties
were all the rage.
She could see her mother’s
blue eyes sparkle
in her mind’s eye.

Temperate seasons,
warm Bulawayo days
on tranquil lawns
speaking like
gentry,
small talk
and conversations
about the weather…

A kind of belonging,
a tribe,
“teapots’ they called us.
Days of innocence
teased her mind,
innuendoes,
nursery tea,
“Cat’s pee” they said.
She paid no mind…

Should she have spent time
wishing
away the harm
of magical thinking?
Made up stories
in her head,
misguided narratives
of a gentle life.

Oh the delight
of daydreaming
in the afternoon.

It brought her comfort,
her sympathetic tea…

©AllysoAlly2018

Posted in prayer

A Prayer….

“Don’t you know Yet? It is your light that lights the World.”
― Rumi

a bubble

Color me in sunshine,
radiant and alive,
grow me into kindness,
keep my faith revived!

Let the earth’s fragrance,
swallow all my pain,
allowing endurance,
so I may thrive again!

I’ll abide in your presence,
while you live in mine.
I’ll eat at your banquet table,
with loveliness I will dine.

When darkness descends,
on my sanctuary of tears,
turn it to compassion,
so praise is what I hear!

Extravagant grace is flowing
into my form,
surrounding me in glory,
and holding back the storm!

©AllysoAlly2018

Posted in a remembrance, Thinking out loud

Collateral beauty

“I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

a cloud

basking on hillsides
in the sun’s healing rays
watching gliders
floating in the haze

simple pleasures
rest for the weary
nature’s ambience
seeing clearly

thoughts dissipate
in the soft glow of light
abstract vistas
spectators delight

setting intention
to see beauty in grief
picturesque distractions
harmonious belief

©AllysoAlly2018

Posted in prayer

Wonderment

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
― William BlakeAuguries of Innocence

heartland

Close to the silt of the earth
in muddied river beds
brittle and bare
a searchlight scans the heartland.

I find myself hungering for more,
as I scour landscapes of silence.
Not just desiring knowledge,
but inclining towards the wonderment
of creation….

I feel the sensations of a fragrant earth,
and the out flowing of the mystical.

I let go of despair.

To understand my heart from the inside,
I have eyes for those who travel with me on this journey
towards the center.

In this heartland I am revived…..

©AllysoAlly2018