thanksgiving?

You repeat
again
more
but where is thanks
where is our blood
our sweat
that  umbilical cord sowed into the land
where are the thousands of our people
where were their houses, burnt
where are they now
the constant fighting
the women and children
dying
they horses
the men
where is their voice
tell me
where is their blood fought bravery
tell me
where is their day?

Islands

There is a world
older than this dark lonely continent
where we sat together on a ferry
watching the islands, quiet and still
slowing passing each
conversations saved in rocky outcrops
and olive groves
back then
I had long hair
birds scattered as we circled beaches
on the back of your rusting motorbike
I finally understood what it felt like
love, different in that mysterious happy hemisphere.

Remember when

Remember when
Rooibos tea with milk was grownup
hours didn't matter in a Wendy house
newly cut green grass
didn't make me itch
Creme Soda was a Special Occasion Drink
when goose-bump joy was as easy as a joke
or puppy lying next to me
breathing in and out together


Remember when the tennis court was a playground
full of dreams woven by bike rides, round and round
remember when you knew
that crying would always stop
and the world would be balanced again
after a hug and a hot bath

I remember now
that there has always been your hand holding mine
across the dust
and a standing rock behind all the closed doors
beyond imitation
and that you can still
stop my crying
just by being my father.

Cottage Under the Stars

This is my recipe
reworked from times under skies
when all you needed
was a heartbeat in the red soil
a rain storm ripping leaves
two laughs on an evening lawn
birds calling, as many as you can count
baked together in a cottage,
kneaded at  end of day
pressed together with happy hands.

water bowl

If I could hold you
in my bowl shaped hands
like water
would you stay?
or eventually
trickle away?