SEBASTIAN HOW YOU SANG
IN ME RAISING THE HARMONIC
AQUSTIC SOUNDS ABOVE THE
TEAL WATERS OF WHITE SAND
THE SYMPHONY STORMED ACROSS
THE SEA WITH OUR INFAMOUS
MELODY CREATING A PERCESSION
OF DANCE TRIGGERED BY THE
SOFTNESS OF YOUR TOUCH MY
KINGS ARRIVED DETROYING THE
HARSHNESS THAT BESTOWED A
TIMING OF MURDER THE MOMENT
WE ARRIVED BACK HOME SAFE
ON THE ISLAND OF WARMTH
HOW I SURVIVED MY OWN
ASSASSINATION OVER MY
BEING AN FNI INFORMANTS
THESE KILLERS ARRIVED
OBSESSED WITH MY AMERICAN
POETRY JAMAICAN
FEMALE DRUG SMUGGLERS
TONI JAY TOWANDA SHAINA
ALIANA RASTA ANDREW
8-14-2003
Stark forests
Salted earth
Waste land of sticks and shapes
Lucayan people buried in caves
Hiding from explorers
Trying to enslave
How do you discover
A land where people live
Only by theft of what they give
A while ago I read
an article
about the people of the Marshall Islands,
about their language,
their history,
their fragile,
disappearing
home.
I learned about
a word they have,
so versatile,
so complex.
“Iakwe” means
hello,
goodbye,
I love you.
But the most important meaning
(to me at least):
You are a rainbow.
And,
like the rainbow people
in the Marshall Islands,
you are beautiful;
you are worth waiting for
and worth searching for
(so let no one tell you differently).
You have powers inside you
that maybe you can’t see yet
because your light
and your prism
haven’t met.
You have the power
to even brighten someone’s day.
So maybe you might not appear
until after the rain;
no big deal!
You are no less beautiful.
Iawke.
Hello.
Goodbye.
I love you.
You are a rainbow.
The islands seem afloat in the sea
So have they been through the ages
Yet they have not gone on a journey
Even as they are bombarded with waves
When a tempestuous storm rage
They are anchored at the deepest level
At the bed of the ocean floor
Where mainland and island are stayed
And connected as one massive body
That is the generous, loving Mother Earth
Individual human beings are islands
In the vast sea of Infinite Expression
Discrete as we perceive them in vision
Yet firmly held as one great mass
At the deepest level of our origin
In the indescribable Cosmic Assemblage
Where there exist no iota of disparity
As it does happen with shallow humanity
Arise all ye chelas of the Truth
And embrace the verdure of your nature
at eight am I arrive at Harbour Island
a calm beach with pink sand
she resides in the Bahamas
if you want to visit her
the sand does not look as pink as the photos
But it is not brown or tan either
Will it be softer than regular gritty sand?
I take off my shoes
this sand is warm, and wobbly
moving like other sand
gritty also as it slides in between my toes
Finally here! I think; and I am not disappointed
Distant noises in the morning
Distant morning spread its flair
Got no learning from the yearning
Boys are riding boards out there
Something metal knocks on metal
Birds are flapping down and up
I take off the whistling kettle
For the instant coffee cup
Comes a rare span of silence
And among the flowers I
Sit and gaze at floating islands,
Formless islands in the sky.
Tears behind the cocktails,
Rowing down to calmness
Oasis was found,
Pure life's gratitude
I found after my mistake.
Confident I feel while I'm breathing loneliness.
Awake with open eyes
Lonely in a tropical island.
Isolated in the middle of the world, I wonder. I wander.
Sun shines above me with compassion, but I'm struggling.
Lucky that I saw a boat I could call its attention.
Amazing I found the gate from beauty to engage reality.
Nice to wake up in spite of having a
Delightful dream, or a nightmare, sweating in bed.
Land of the seas and glorious sunshine
Sparkling Pearl of the Orient Sealine
Strategically and truly well-placed
This great country's sun-kissed islands are laced
Lined up with palm fronds and coconut trees
salubrious climate that drives cool breeze
Pearls of Heaven lay scattered in the sea
Are the beautiful islands that we see
Historic past meets glorious future
Modern Philippines is poised to feature
Advancement in science, technology
Coupled with the country's topology
The common man is honest and simple
Hard work and forbearance is the symbol
Tributes to the great hero Jose Rizal
Somehow nation's progress is a puzzle
There are some problems that are hard to solve
But Philipino spirit can resolve
Economic revival it may face
With certain ingenuity and grace
SEVEN THOUSAND ISLANDS
Some five hundred miles East of Vietnam
The Phillipines is a multi-island archipelago
Named in honour of King Phillip of Castile
It was Spain’s mid sixteenth century deal
But colonisation and ownership a farrago
Won by Spain but then lost to Uncle Sam
Conquered by Japan in Second World War
Won Back by US but became independent
Restoring a Filipino focus with some urgency
And fighting regular communist insurgency
In mid 60’s, Marcos was elected president
After economic growth, he changed the law
Since he escaped the country in disgrace
It’s been ups and downs in the economy
Marcos’ son, Bongbong, recently elected
By Covid, all has been severely affected
Yet few challenge the nation’s autonomy
And as for its future, just watch this space
Two Icy Islands
Cracks appear in the ice
Become wider but we don’t cross
We each urge the other to jump
To join the other on their slab of ice
I motion to you, you motion to me
Neither jump. Our agonised faces
Watch as the gap widens until
It’s impossible to leap, to bridge.
Set adrift, you go your way
I go mine, further and further away
There’s a million miles between
Your sofa and mine, my block
Of ice and your block of ice
The artic wind wraps around
Us like a shield deflecting compromise
And we drift for what seems like days
Sour faces, argument lost, even
Though we were both right. Both
Just. I’m so stubborn, so is she.
The water warms and our icy islands
Melt. We have no choice but to
Meet in the sea and we cling
Me to you and you to me.
A tropical breeze warms the room
And it becomes a sauna,
Instead of a tomb.
David Cox 11/06/23
The Bahama Islands
our nation of shallow seas
our archipelago in the sun we live on
which the Lord our God
laid our foundation of life
upon the shallow plantations
of The Atlantic Ocean
We are a consecrated nation
the envy of our Greater Antillean siblings
the best kept secret
for in the eyes of our Creator
our seas as transparent
as the bottom of a glass window boat
and prickly coral reefs
glistening like Christmas lights
an easy targets for astronauts
to choose next year's tropical vacation
while spying from deep space
Columbus and the Spaniards
even called us "Baja Mar"
because of our glorious foundation
upon the shallow seas
from our Mighty Creator from up above
hence our area code being 242
now,
(my) collection of poems
library
on the bookshelf
coming out
in backpack bag
at the coffee shop
into back trouser pocket,
I'm going to meet you.
The grey skies shift to blue, and now a breeze
is heralding a longed-for transformation.
With rainbow colours Mother Earth is blessed
and all the islands of the west caressed, reborn.
Sweet Summer knows no storm.
*Image of Tropical Arrangements by FukuFlow.
The Islands Call
Hawaiian
rainbow colored
precious
mixture of fine
blooming fragrances
that seizes
both eyes
and nose filled
breaths of
sweet nothings
sealing fate
forever bridging
dreams illustrating life's
gift
at Paradise shores.
2022 December 16
*2nd Place*
Writing Challenge - Yalto Form
~~Constance La France: Judged 2022 December 19
*HMS.
two islands and dynamite
There are two islands in the stream, one is big
and called the new island the other is small and
called the old island, the pair is linked to a bridge.
I crossed the bond to see my girlfriend, who lived
on the old island, in a shack, all houses were shacks
the fishermen lived there in suitable poverty.
I knocked on the door that cracked, letting out
a light which was good, the steps to the house were
made off rough unfriendly stones.
Her mother opened I didn’t like her smelling of beer
she had three teeth left and spoke like a whistle.
She hated me for being a cook at a tourist hotel
work she thought was for skulkers men with soft
hands incapable to do a proper job, like fishing
mackerel for a living.
She has gone with her new boyfriend on his boat
he is a skipper, to Denmark, and with that,
she slammed the door shut.
On the news, a bridge crossing Crimea to Russia
has been blown up; when I crossed the bridge to get
to the new island, I thought of doing something
in that vein, but having no knowledge of dynamite
I let it pass.
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