Rupununi Christmas

The cashew rains came
Scented the air -
Dampened the quenched
Savannah land-
Myriad of brown, green, yellow and red
Rupununi Christmas colors

Mokororo and mango wine
Fresh, sweet, dangerous-
Offered generously
A gathering-
kindred spirits call
For a return  home

South Winds blow

And Just like that the time soon came

Winter with the northern winds blew in

And with it strange whispers in the rain

Head south-Head south!

the whispers proclaimed--

Float on the wind with the feather

Follow the paper heart blowing in the wind

The journey's not too long you'll find

My friend soon you'll be among your kind

Scared to feel

Disillusioned
with the illusion and confusion
of perfection

Its just a perception
Humans-
Desperate for a connection 
waiting-
for a reaction
to validate their existence
But its all pretense
we're trapped in a fence
Pretending -
that nothing's real
So scared to feel
Living in denial
Locked emotions in a file
Kept and tracked
Cold calculated text

Ode to bug

Tiny little bug sitting on my page
quiet-
Meditative
Do you have rage?
Through your eyes-
Unknown little bug-
How does creation seem?
Insignificant?
Or meant to be?

Open to suggestions

Always Life and Death
Opposing resisting forces
Combined in the same breath
Everday-
Connected to both
Everlasting afterlife they pray
Yet consume and destroy
-What a paradox_
We are nothing but a toy
Looking for cheap delight
Nothing but ultimate distraction
Oh Oblivious blight-
Oh Humanity-
Obssed with being right
You forget-
Nothing is ever Black and White

Clay warrior

Clay warrior made from hand
Fashioned to fight
For a stranger's Land
Clay warrior-
Painted with blood
Hardened by fires of War
Forged by a brotherhood
Long dead but not forgotten
Clay warrior-
Shattered and remade
by the whim of a furor
His faith has been laid
Clay warrior-
Fallen, lonely soldier
The world on your shoulder
Sitting on the edge

Lies to life lessons

Fill their head with lies
Deny education
Tell them they cannot see
You will be their eyes
Repress, oppress and depress
hopeless-
waiting in vain
to be free from their chain
waiting in vain
for a promise long broken
fill their head with lies
control the mind of the youth
suck their energy dry
leach-parasite-disease
telll them they can have gold
then hand them dirt
tell them it is El Dorado
-its nothing but a shadow-
disillusioned youth-
waiting in vain
for a promised life
already dead

Ode to Alyssa and Guyana

i miss u.
do u still love me?
am i still ur friend? 
am i in the back of your mind? 
Times spent remembering, listlessly wondering what if
times we laughed like we were five
thats when i was alive. 
dead leaves, bare trees crying for the sun
controlled emotions, no free motion to express, i feel repressed
dance naked and free beneath the mango tree
in the rain with no thought but now the adult world has trapped my youth
stressed, i've regressed into dark depths of swollen demon eyes
wondering if i'll ever be kissed by the sun again

Vampire Lover

sadly-
staring at the changing moon 
Vampire lover-
Wake me soon
Sinking sucked underworld
hold my hand
untill the spring flower's unfurled
My lover-
Hold me close and be kind
The night's not too long you'll find
The day is at a loss
Sadly-
Staring at the changing moon
Vampire lover-
Wake me soon

Memories

My dreams-
Full of dusty roads
and endless sky
Lonely nights 
Lost with my soul
Tired of the fight
Against Tyrannical might
My dreams-
turn to you
A memory as lost as me
I cry to my soul
Nothing but a construct
Of lonely images
Filling my pages

City Lights

She's losing her mind
She's losing her soul
poor little darling
She's losing control

Finding herself
Somewhere too far
Beyond the dream
Lung full of tar

Smiling in vain
As stern eyes stare
Filling her mind
With their fear

So if you choose to see
The lights in a limosine
You know the city
Is a dark place
Turn around and you
Are just another waste

Modern motions

A face constructed-
With interplay of light and dark
Emotions caged and restricted
Every reaction created -
Suited and tailored to audience
Opinions weighed on consequence

A personality-
Rendered schizophrenic
Dreams become reality
Hustle, bustle and panic-
Activities for activities sake
Moments ticked and passed

Winds

Ripples in the wind
When times collide

Hot breeze blows on Savannah land
Whispers -
News from Kanuku high
Scented with change
Whirlwinds blow -
Fuelled by raging spirits

Ripples in time
When ideals collide

Winds blow ash over Savannah trees
Warning-
From seasons past
Of cyclical promises
Trying times-
Frustrated and restricted

Predicted

Light and Dark

One day-
When it all comes to light
Maybe I won't be so afraid -
To turn my back on the dark
For fear that things watch me and I cannot see

But-
From what I know of the world
Darkness hides -
In those who hold the light
For it is light that casts the shadows
And make-
The darkness seem dread

For it is light that watches your back
As you walk to darkness
And-
To return to the light
The shadows cast behind
Impossible to move towards that light
For you must look to see-
What lurks in the shadows cast

It is the light-
That has taught you to be afraid
For it does not acknowledge-
The shadows that lurk in it's bright
It pretends at hope - a flicker and glimmer
And they say-
It is only in the dark, can you see the light
But I have seen-
The dark that is in the light

Across the table where you sat

You sat and stared
I felt silly -
Talking about my ideas
Your silence unnerved me

Your eyes had alot more to say
Piercing, sharp and beautiful
As cliche would have it -
I fell for you.

Were you looking at me?
Or past me?
Across the table - where you sat
I felt the colour rising as you glanced up

It's all so cliche
And I felt so silly
Talking about the things
That I could talk about-
with no one else

Land and belonging

Removed -
Refined -
Isolated -
Intra-cultural blend of norms'
Expectations and reactions
Free to be in anonymity
Yet wrapped in loneliness of unknown kin
For spirit tek spirit they always say'
In this sea of bodies, as time tumbles past
Faces twirl in the madness of the pace
And yet you stick out to me -
A reminder of a land I remember -
in passing memories and vivid dreams
Dreams -
Of endless sky and open hearts
Darkness and stars at night
For spirit tek spirit they always say
Another land claims you
Yet-
your spirit belongs to my land.

Wapishana and Mango tree

Some land hold people -
Bonding with them in a timeless memory
Some people bond with a land -
Holding it with love and regard
For those who see the land as something to be used -
Forced to provide - beaten until it lays wasted

Wapishana lady whispers to me
Mango trees die if people move -
They like it when people live with them
Love makes the land thrive
Spirit tek spirit they always say

A land is full of life, potential and energy -
Because it is nurtured to be this way
Balance the growth - so your land is not wasted
Take the resources and bleed it dry -
The land has no life, no potential and no energy
Some land holds people - and people hold the land

Savannah Seasons Muse

Your song- Of beauty and adversity Of hope - freshly fallen rain on blistering soil Of struggle - savannah flower blooming among the brown Of a land like two minds, lover and madman My Savannah land- Of downpours and blistering drought Your song is a song of tests. For those who love you, know- There can never be one without the other
Your song - is painfully beautiful. Burnt Savannah ash mix with rain drops splashing on the land Brilliant colours blend - a thousand shades of green and brown Colours of earth, colours of life and death - of hope and adversity Your song plays on- Of endless sky and shining beacons up high When darkness falls and shadows cast Soft moonlight comes, dancing with Kaiambe trees
Your song is old - Yet never grows cold When deer flowers bloom - sweet scents dance on the night breeze We know your song, my Savannah land And frogs in April know your song - They know it in the thunder and the rains The quail whistles, when you listen - She knows your song- sung in the dry season breeze Both seasons are beautiful my Savannah muse
Play me your Savannah song.

Warped and Wrapped

Wrapped in a blanket of illusion
Warped perceptions of inclusion

Wrapped in a mist of swirling words
Warped meanings of this world

Wrapped in an image of the big picture
Warped details in the depicture

Wrapped in one worldview
Warped in colours and hue

Wrapped eyes and blinded
Warped view and divided

Quest

For she sought to be free
And fought to be happy
But-yet-in her journey
And Endless quest -
She forgot -
To just be-

Heaven and Savannah reflections

Rupununi -
What you mean to me
When heavens flood Savannah lands
So it can see itself reflected in the land

Horizon and flood lands meet
Evoking life again-
To the parched brown

Flowing connections through
Swamp, pond, river and lake
Making all life come awake

A beauty astounding -
Breathless - I stare at glittering Savannah
Where brown and dust prevailed -
Rupununi's life colours dominate

Dawn to Dusk

I hope you fade from my mind -
Like the stars fade from sight at dawn
I didn't think you'd be like Venus -
First and Last star at night -
Gathered her name from the goddess of love -
Fitting.
For you are first and last on my mind -

I hope you fade from my heart -
For even when the dawn comes -
So too does the brightest of the stars
And Savannah green fades to brown
When wind carries leaves and dust in swirls -
Fitting.
For you are a whirlwind in my heart -

Karanambo shores

For those who know Karanambo shores - Know the legends of the ancient stones Set along Rupununi's curves - A bay where Carib guardians stand A whispy guardian figure on those shores Waving, fading from Carib rock tops As engines leave Karanambo shores A guardian stands and stares- Bred and born - Rupununi's own A child of wind, rain and sun - A heart of freedom, love and hope Whose sould could not forsake Karanambo’s shores Spirit take spirit they always say And land holds spirits so they know their own – Sleek spirits of the water speak – Of a whispy guardian figure – standing with Carib rock

Quiet Darkness

A sadness creeps like growing shadow on the land
The heart sees what the mind cannot comprehend -
Beating viciously, anxiously in urgent warning
Trapped - like traumatized birds in a cage

Breath in and breath out - hot - tight - impossible
A million Savannah butterflies in my mind -
Flutter across the deserts of my dreams
Like thoughts - never quite catching each other

Fitful rage - non committed to a single thing
A loneliness of the mind - and their silence rings
Like slow wind on hot nights -
Twisting, turning - running from the darkness on the land

Unbounded

Beauty unbounded and hearts open wide -
For those who love with their soul -
Can always find hope
Spirit tek spirit, they always say.

The love of friends unbroken-
Stretching through time and space
We can always find each other
Spirit tek spirit, they always say

For if we never meet again, my circle of love
Remember me in moments -
For our story was woven in a fabric of time
Spirit tek spirit, they always say
And your spirit will always be a part of mine

Fickle mood

Like passing clouds
Drifting endless in the sky
Your mood and phases never last
Words lifted and carried on the wind
Come storm, sun or cloudy day
You always seem to change your way

Your stance whipped away
In your desperate quest to be free
You can never be who you claim to be
With no place to make a stand
No true friend to hold your hand
Swaying with wind favours blow

Look deep within your soul
Darling - stop trying to fill that hole
With passing smiles and drifting words
Meaningless - whispered upon drunken lips
Intoxicated by changing seasons
With no core - easily shaken by a whimsical thing

When the fire dies

Blazing fury - Hot and steady
Savannah fire's feisty blaze
Dancing with Savannah Breeze
Disregarding what is consumed
In it's hungry path -
All but those who withstand the flame

Blazing fury - enchanting
Burning upon a midnight hill
Colour and smell swirl
Shivering in dangerous thrill
A beautiful but deadly thing to-
All but those who withstand the flame

Blazing fury - fizzled and dark
Ashes blowing memories of passion past
Kissed by fire's blaze - when love held fast
That heat that once consumed -
Left Savannah land void
Except for those who withstand the flame

Fragments of Being

Fragmented identity
Pigeon holed - told
Trapped by perception
In a cycle of endless suggestion
Of who to be and who you are
This is not your land - you are from afar

Fragmented identity
Constructed, disintegrated - freely
Paint a picture of who I am
Show me, I see no semblance-
Insist you know my inner being
Convinced of my blood without feeling

Fragmented identity
Tied to a home - of multiple lives
Ripped apart by subtle lies
Spirit takes spirit and they know -
Their kin - for it can easily show
To those who care to look deeper than skin

My Chinese blood - written for Owadaunii on Independence

Heritage and Identify is a funny thing
What makes us Guyanese is we are one and we are many-

First coming in 1853
What we call the chinee
A drop of blood in my ancestry
Coming to Guyana -
Signing 5 year contracts
First came vagabonds and adventurers
Then came those fleeing conflict in China
Coming to Guyana -
A chance for a different life
but finding hardship and strife
Doing their bit and setting up shop
After tending to sugar cane crop

Some left-
Seeking a homeland in the Caribbean
Those who stayed became Guyanese
Setting up their life as part of our tapestry
A drop of blood in my ancestry
Setting up churches, going into politics
Let me show you Arthur Chung
Our first president at Independence
Jonathan Foo - a cricketer too!
Robert Victor Evan Wong
His accomplish​ments as long
politician, civil engineer, businessman, rancher

In the absence of your company

In the absence of your company
My world fell silent-
When the rains came
And thundered on zinc rooftops
I cocooned and thought of you

In the absence of your company
My heart beat in singularity -
When the rains came
Pelting through windows and cracks
I let myself go with the wind

In the absence of your company
In my singularity
I learnt of comfort of silence
When the rains came
After the long season of dryness
I learnt to just listen to it pour

May

In the month of May
The rains came-
Bringing heavenly water upon the Earth
Drenching the packed and dried soil

Green shoots push through damp soil
Life returns to the Rupununi
Bringing promises of new life and change
Blossoming with excitement

Raindrop Memories

Gentle drops on rooftops
Misguide the sense of peace
Behind that cloud lies a power
Of life and death -of fluid water

Reminds me that a calm has a storm
Childhood memories of floods in July
Of red ants nests bundled tight - floating
Attractive to curious mind, but so dangerous

Reminds me-
Of a father whose soul was in the wild
And his heart in his children
Adventures in the Savannah - black mud and flooded plains
Reminds me -
Of a mother whose eyes saw clear
Saw the truth through the rain

Those thunderous drops on rooftops
Reminds me of bedtime stories
Of Vaquero Bom -Heario, Smellio, Seeio and maga horse too
Adventures beyond the night
Of Rupununi men and their might

Drumming on the roof reminds me-
Of rain beating in - feeling safe in their arms
While thunder roared​ and lightening struck
It became a thing to love - not to fear
Reminds me-

Rupununi Season and Reason

Savannah breeze blows
Warm and cool - Dual
Like Rupununi Seasons
The heart has no reasons

Mountain breeze blows
Wind whispers secrets
News - untold- on the winds
Souls of one kind intertwined

River breeze blows
Whispers to Kaiambe trees
Thatch roofs rustle softly
The hammock gently swings

The Northeast breeze blows
Moments melt in darkness to memories
Your face etched upon my mind
A drawing on my soul

Its not a heart's place to reason
Like a Rupununi season

Mosaic beauty

For I see the beauty in you
Even though you cannot
For I see the kindness within
Even though you deny your heart

And I see the broken part too
Even though for you that's true
I see fire beneath the broken lines
Even though you deny the spark within

I will tend that spark in you
Even though you cannot
I will forge you into a mosiac
You must see broken can be beautiful too

Empty

Broken, shattered thing -
How pretty you are when you stand
Defiant, willful - a fiery contradiction
Knocked up - bruised - damaged
And -
Still you stand -
Quietly with an open heart
Giving out your gentle hand

Why is it that you stay?
When he leaves you wanting more?
He'll turn your heart to stone
Leave you with bitterness in your soul
And -
That open heart will close
That gentle hand harden
That pretty face - echoing empty

Kindred Spirits

Time stretches between us -

And -

I miss you like the Savannah misses the rain

For it is you who grounds me -

Stills my anxious heart

Calms my wandering, wondering mind

Time stretches between us -

And -

I miss you like the river misses water

For it is you who pulls me -

Sweeps my confidence to the top

Shows me to flow and flex

Time stretches between us -

And - 

I miss you like the cloud misses the breeze

For it is you who shows me -

The beauty you see

Within and outside of me

Shadows play on the Horizon

Dancing through the trees -

like the restless spirit in my soul

Time stretches for us -

For you are a kindred spirit

Found in common place

Stretching and bounded through time

Rupununi knows - 

For she gathers the restless souls

Shadows play on the horizon

Dancing through the grass

like the restless spirit in our souls

Rupununi Musings

Rupununi-
What is it you mean to me?
Rupununi you mean to me -
You teach me -
To be free
To be love
To be all heart and soul
To be patient
To love the rain
To love the fire
To be a friend
To be kind
To have courage
To dance
To stand still beneath the shade
Listen quiet for the songs of birds

You teach me -
Of greens and blues
Reds, oranges and yellow
You teach me the beauty of brown soil
and love of fresh rain's smell

Rupununi - to me
You are life

You teach me of sky and earth
of wind and deathly still

Of highs and lows you show
For those who listen
For those who watch
They can see -
that in you
is life's meaning

International Women's day

Women, here's your cue
Here's to those who stand with courage true
Here's to the timid, here's to those whose voices are denied
Here's to those quietly strong - who stand for no wrong.
Here's to those blazing souls - whose hearts cannot hide
Here's to those patient ones - who have waited so long

Here's to those who love unconditionally
Here's to the ones afraid to love freely

Here's to those nervous of their inner strength
Here's to those who embrace their inner force
Here's to the ones that do not go down
Here's to the warrior woman in every one

Rupununi Love

For what could you give me-
But the stars in the sky, beauty unbounded
And they were always-
Enough for me, my love

Whispered moments-
Soulfully shared.

For what could you give me-
But the wind, to let my soul soar
And it was always-
Enough for me, my love

Hammocks swing on riversides-
Matching rhythm with the flow.

For what could you give me-
But the thunder and rain, my own voice
And it was always-
Enough for me, my love

Sun kissed Savannah days-
Radiating from Earth's heart.

For what could you give me-
But of myself, Rupununi bred
And it was always-
Enough for me, my love

Blended colours, painted Savannah -
For what could I give you, but myself.

Red Dust City

Red Dust City-
Steal my soul
In you -
I cannot be whole

Fragmented identity
Trapped in isolation
Floating nonentity
Stares of accusation

Changes with the tide
With rapid movement
Cultures will collide
Ready for deployment

Pretty little lady
Free my soul
From this insane crusade
Red Dust City hole

For love of friends

They could not and would not-
Understand the love we have
Free of burden -
It must be wrong -
They so proclaimed
A love so strong ----
Would burn to nothing

Love is soul,
Love is mind
Love is heart
And love -
Is ours - a circle - a friendship

Simple and true
Talk what you may
I know what you say -
And it's OK -
I know you don't understand
But that's why we take a stand -

Pigeon hole us, as you would-
We love being renegades
Living life unafraid
Life is not black and white
Life - living - is found in between
Those seemingly unexpected seams

I know you don't understand
But that's why we take our stand -
So welcome to the Rupununi -
Here - take my hand
Let me show you unburdened love.

Rupununi hearts' sadness

We sat atop Barra'Wat'Tao
My brother and I -
among the ancient petroglyphs
Savannah stretched before
Mountains rose gently to meet the sky
Winding bends of Savannah creeks -
Their curves hugged by Ite palms

Wind danced across the savannah land
As the setting sun kissed all in its range
Rupununi has colours of earth -
Brown, green, blue, orange - blending slow
A sadness came - he looked at me and asked
"What do you see when you look out there?"

Brother - I see a freedom like no other
I see a cowboy following cattle
Egrets following cowboys
I see a savannah hawk swirling in the wind
Brother - I see a land where I buried my heart

"Do you know what they see?"
Parceled land - packaged and sold
Controlled - Cold
Dug - Forced - Abandoned
Fields of mono crop
Signs of "Private Property and no Trespassing"
A different life -
Not one what we understand

Sun dipped behind Shiriri
I listened to the sounds of early evening
We lucky few -
Love a land with no expectation
We lucky few -
Love a land free of agenda

A sadness creeps, like the Rupununi night
Silence grips my heart -

Earth Beat

The earth urged - listen to my beat
Match my rhythm to your feet
Like wind gently dancing with Savannah grass

The wind whispered fly -
Her heart whispered - be free
The tree told her of roots -
Deep - Powerful - Strong
Her feet told her stand
Catch the wind and dance
The stars talked of foreign lands
Her eyes talked of ancient memories
The rivers sang of endless time
Her blood sang of kindled passion
The Sun spoke of kissing mountain peaks
She spoke of living a thousand lives

Land and Sky

Savannah burnt –

Stalks crumble in the dry wind

She looks down – walks gently – crunching- dry, broken - ashen things

Looking for the sign of life anew

In black ash - red and brown soil –

A land intermeshed with history, hearts and souls

A land of rebels and dreamers-

A land burnt – razed – ashen

Darkness in the sky –

An Angry, vengeful howl

She looks up – a sign – a promise – she prays

Hangs low on the high and ancient earth

Darkness will meet darkness

Creating light – vivid – dangerous –

A sky of seasons changing, swirling and bringing

A sky of hopes and visions

A sky lit – bright – dotted dreams

Land meets Sky –

Frightening, stirring and electrifying

She looks on – stunned – mesmerized – lost

Encompassing intensity

A heaviness and lightness surrounds the earth

Battle sounds – loud – painful – liberating

An earth for the future

An earth of wet green and dampened ashes

An earth free – whole – balanced