Bulawayo…

I saw this car on Saturday and it reminded me of my brothers fetching me from school…

Take me back
on runs to school,
sun-baked days
and swimming pools…

hot Novembers,
warm downpours,
barefoot excursions
out of doors…

riding bikes
till my knees burned,
days of innocence,
unconcerned…

daydreaming
all day long,
radios blaring
the latest songs…

stars that were
too numerous
to count,
makeshift dwellings
where I crouched…

whispered ancestors
in the dark,
running wildly
through shadowy parks…

take me back
to simplicity,
where dreams were planted
under
wishing trees…

©AllysoAlly2019

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Throwback Thursday…

Happy Birthday Dad…

My father loved whiskey,
and oysters in their shell.
He didn’t believe in heaven,
or even in hell…
He had a sense of humor
and loved sci-fi
and when he was drunk,
his voice amplified!
He was born in Umvuma; in the back of beyond
and at times his commentaries
were seriously prolonged…..
He could overhaul washing machines
and spent hours fixing cars,
he loved to socialize
and smoked Cuban cigars…
When he joined the golf club, my mother just sighed
he loved to hold up the bar,
with the other guys!!

©Ally2019

Childish ways

 

I didn’t want much when I was a child
just to run in the bush,
be free
and wild…

They wanted me to be
an engineer,
I should have ambition, a little “savoir-faire”!

I believed in magic and daydreamed all day
loving the delight
of natures bouquet…

my aspirations still are
to be free
and wild…
loving Earthlings,
fully nature’s child…

it doesn’t matter if I’m rich or famous,
I’m just proud of the fact
that I’m rather courageous…

©Ally2019

Child of the Universe…

“You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
― Max Ehrmann, Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life

Reflecting
on my childhood
when I first believed…
in fairies and magic,
and glory revealed…So innocent and whimsical,
I could see outside myself,
when love was all that mattered
and dreams were heartfelt…

Before the world changed me
and robbed me of joy,
I marveled at seedlings,
an intrepid tomboy…

Before I knew war and hate
or the taste of grief,
I lived in a bubble of unshakable belief…
that flowers blossomed to please me
and animals could speak,
when oceans were safe to swim
and freckles kissed my cheeks…

Before I felt unlovely
when magic was real,
the lyrics of love songs
had astonishing appeal…

I lived in the moment
a dreamy little girl
nothing could touch me in this mystical world…

The stars in the heavens shone brightly for me;
no Earthling
to steal
my curiosity…

I loved adventure
and talking with my pets,
uncontaminated by shame
or dreadful regrets…
Lemonades on weekend’s
expeditions on my bike
unafraid to swim out far,
or realize that
I disliked…
greedy humans,
or feelings of despair,
I believed in kindness,
and that every Earthling cared…

I yearn to be restored into flawless vision,
to dance with the wind,
freed of ambition…

But my soul remembered
the pact that I made,
to be chiseled
and broken,
to discard the masquerade…

A child of the Universe,
steeped in grace,
free to love
and forever embrace…the wonders of eternity and the beauty of all the Earth…
This is the story
of how I reclaimed my birth…

©Ally2019

Throwback Thursday

 

Keepsakes

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Earthlings are not meant to stay,
they soar into the milky way,
their auras shine like sacred jewels,
decorated with cosmic hues.

They evanesce into the light,
never forgotton, nor out of sight.
Old photographs
yellow and frayed,
precious keepsakes
of life portrayed!

Their resonance is boundless praise,
transfigured by eternity’s gaze!

©AllysoAlly2018
 

Whimsicle dreamer…

Day Two of Na/GloPoWriM..
“Not sure what i’m doing, just living in the moment, and trying to fulfill the next prompt”

“i thought you were so beautiful
a goddess in my sight
i wanted to be like you
so talented and so bright”

“you were young, my darling
with stars in your eyes
a whimsical dreamer
unaccustomed to lies”

“i compared myself to you
and never knew my own worth
i failed in the world’s eyes
and bitterly lamented my birth”

“my darling, you are perfect
resembling the Divine
you’re gifted and gentle
transcendent and undefined”

“and when I made the Earth, I had already imagined your likeness!”

©AllysoAlly2018

Wordy Wednesday

The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb
― Pink Floyd

when i was a child you said some words,
now i know,
it seems absurd,
but on that day,
i changed forever
perhaps i should’ve just said
“whatever”!
but i let it grow into my bones,
those words stung
when i was alone,
you never knew the harm you did,
i was just a defenceless kid!

but i grew to believe those words,
a thing you shouldn’t
say to girls,
and now i am grown,
what can i say,
in remembrance of that hurtful day.
I’ll shout it out….
“I’m not a bitch!”
even scream it
at fever pitch!

i remember the trees crumpled in shame,
when you called me,
disparaging names!
forgiveness has always been my quest,
but never say,
those words
in jest…..

 

Looking back

When I was young my Father gave me a Kodak Polaroid camera.
I loved taking snapshots of my Son’s, and seeing the results instantly.
In 1986 Kodak left South Africa as a protest against the Apartheid Regime.
Sadly I never got to use the camera again because film was no longer available.

“Welcome back”

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

Some years back, a couple from Uganda came to stay with us.
Each time we returned home, even after a quick trip to the nearby store,
they would say; “Welcome back”!
We asked them why they welcomed us back every time, and they explained that in Uganda there were times when friends or family would leave home and never return.

They also told us how they walked for an hour to the nearby village just to enjoy a soft serve ice cream or a cold drink. Things we take for granted every day.

This left a deep impression on me, and I often think of them with great fondness.
They epitomized love and grace.