Laughter

Sunday

The Waiting

Dark Moon

pan concert 'we beat' 2010

Daytime

'we beat'...live... St James; TT

A Caladium

send a free Caladium e-greeting

With

Bare Feet

Outside

Church Jigsaw Puzzle

have fun

outside the church
a homeless man
begs his bread
--gillena cox

Behind

Passing

Corpus Christi 2010

send a free Plumbago e-greeting

Bougainvillea Twig

Sun Spaces

Sunrise

Three Women of Siparia

In a southern town on the island of Trinidad; in the twin state Republic of Trinidad and Tobago there resides in a catholic church, a statue of the Virgin Mary, she is called the black virgin and,acclaimed to her existence, is a supernatural origin, blessing, and benefits. La Divina Pastora, the Divine Shepherdess,is also embraced and venerated by the hindu community qua Sipari Mai in her festival; 'The Siparia Fete'. These two religious groups are most commonly associated with her, but persons of many other religions, including Muslims, Buddhists, and indigenous Waraoa Indians. The origin of the statue is unknown, but seems to have resided in the Siparia area since the 18th century. more... Then, there is Daisy Voisin; of whom many will agree is queen of Parang long after her demise. Alexandra "Daisy" Voisin (23 September 1924 – 7 August 1991) more...
AND NOW there is Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar; first ever, woman Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, whose constituency voted her, her seat to the parliament. She was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, 2010; political leader of the United National Congress which leads the People's Partnership, a coalition formed for the May 24, 2010 general elections more...
Siparia in southern Trinidad, is, south of Penal and west of Fyzabad. Also called "The Sand City," it was originally a non-Mission Amerindian settlement. Siparia grew to be the administrative centre for County Saint Patrick, and later the Siparia Regional Corporation.

onset of the rains--
in time new crops
will be planted

Night Rain

Morning Meditation

photo from wordpress.com was adjusted to produce this image


morning meditation
slowly letting go a breath--
birds whistling
--gillena cox

Wild Flowers

a kiskadee sings
to the sunshine
wild flowers
--gillena

listen to the kiskadee...

balisier flower in politics...

balisier flower from...

Lets Celebrate Mothers Day 2010

revisit Mother's Day 2009

...and a happy day to my mother, Mrs Mary Mitchell, who will celebrate (God willing) her eightieth birthday on May 30th;

this year's celebration has just begun; there's music, hugs, and fine art; click on the following links...

e-greeting from...

video from...

Madonna and Child by Filippo Lippi from...

red carnation from...

Layers of Sky #2

Layers of Sky

Day Moon May 2010

Sunbeams

Though the period of European history from the 5th to the 11th century is often called the Dark Ages, writers and scholars of the time in fact did much to preserve and extend the light of civilization. A minor but felicitous contribution to the English language from this period is the word sunbeam, which is believed to have entered English in the 9th century through the work of Alfred the Great. A scholar as well as a king, Alfred undertook and oversaw the translation of a number of Latin works into the English of his time, now known as Old English. Among these was The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, a work composed by the Venerable Bede. The Latin phrase columna lcis, which we would today translate as "a column of light," occurs several times in this work. Since the Old English translator did not have the word column in his vocabulary, he used bam, which meant "a tree" or "a building post made from a tree" (our modern word beam). Columna lcis thus became sunnebem, or "sun post," which survives as our sunbeam. Though perhaps less stately than "column of light," sunbeam has brightened our language. From it the word beam alone came to mean "a ray or rays of light"; it subsequently became a verb meaning "to radiate." It now allows us not only to beam with pride or happiness but also to beam our broadcasts around the earth and even to the stars.
sunbeams Word History from...

May First

A Poem In Your Pocket 2010

All the poems in this posting remain the copyright of the individual writers and should not be used without their permission

Thanks: Dianne, Leroy, Goeffrey, Pris, Vidur, William, Cara, Keith, Lorraine, Sandy, Stevie, Reason, Joseph; Vic; Jay and Ralf (Deep bow to the Bard--William Shakespeare)
much love
gillena


shopping list
I love the way
you write
-- Ralf Bbroeker; DE
[received and added May 3rd]


This Ice

we saw it together
snow growing like mold
on the green street sign
< elevation a giant beanstalk >
higher than this shredding rope
can loop the dying sun
and the < icy road > in yellow
where cars and crows skidded
pointilist congeniality in gray
slipping to monochromatic light
we stared at the blurred areas
bypassing a cabin at the turn
transparent warmth at the fireside
till our nose froze under the lake.
--Jay Coral; US
[received and added Apr 3oth]


for a moment
all worldly cares
are forgotten
amidst wildflowers
in Fish Canyon trail
--Vic Gendrano; PH


bayou, swamp and beach
shrimp,oysters,krill - overkill
Gulf oil spill
--Joseph B. Connolly; US


THE OPEN DOOR
So many locks; so many keys
just one Door holds hope securely.
Seek, knock and ask until you find
the Key that unlocks that Open Door.
--Reason A. Poteet; USA & IN


Petals

Petals fall
from blossoms
to earth
and rest
in sweet nectar
beside the seed
of its womb
to nourish
and strive
in the sand
for another life
of splendor
and breath

surviving only
for the sake of
beauty, truth
and the fragrance
of a flower.
Stevie Strang; California, US


In Stitches

music blossoms through
the eye of the needle
used to mend my heart
covered with patches
of sorrow and joy
use
abuse
disuse
abandonment
and love
dark and light
patterned and plain
it then becomes
a patchwork of art
and emotions
alive and beating
the rhythms
of my life
--© 2010 Sandy Vrooman;CA & US


Pockets full of sins
I carry silently
Its voice louder
Than mine could ever be
--Lorraine Renaud; CA


Earth Day
a blue-green marble
on a track unseen
--Cara Holman; US


Mother Earth

See Mother Earth, our primal provider,
Perturbed, polluted, plundered and raped,
Panting in the pangs of human avarice!
Ominous clouds of conflict keep rising
Perniciously from her beleaguered abdomen
As petty man impudently unleashes his
Unholy inhumanity upon mankind!

Mother Earth burns frenetically now
With shame and disgust too,
Shuddering and quaking with contempt
For her thoughtless, incestuous children.

Her violated virginity vies now for
Justice and regeneration in unprecedented,
Violent and vehement vindication!
--Keith Simmonds; TT


from the outlook
of suicide bridge
the eagle's rock
it was there
they ground my teeth
into dust
carried away
by shining winds
to drift forever
never to rest
to have no place
in this world
--William Sorlien; US


unfathomed stillness
rolling out
waves after waves
shadows on the sands
appearing and dissolving
between moonrise and the sunrise
the unseen lovers
set the horizon aglow
yet again and again
from silence to the lyrics
and to silence again
nowhere does the caravan halt
--Vidur Jyoti; IN


Sara Discovers Norman

Sara is flash lightning,
a loose wire,
her current not quite
touching ground.
She got a tattoo once,
pierced her belly button,
sewed roses all over her
size six baggy jeans.
She wishes she'd known
Janis Joplin, Martin Luther King,
and The Chicago Seven; she admires
people who walk outside circling wagons.
She's attracted to Norman.
In his Lands' End pressed slacks
and tailored shirts, he almost
blends in, but his shoes
are as scuffed as hers.
--Pris Campbell; US (from The Nature of Attraction a collaboration between Pris Campbell and Scott Owens, published by Main Street Rag Press)


A Prayer for my Children

When you find yourself in a far away land
surrounded by men, animals that mutter strange
sounds, do not be afraid: neither you, your parents,

nor your ancestors have ever been alone.
So trust the earth to bear you up, follow
the wind as it leads you through valleys

clustered with trees heavy with fruit--
some that seem familiar enough to eat,
but you still aren't sure they are the same

as the ones you left on the other side
of the river that you've now forgotten.
Eat. Feast on the bounty. Feed the fire

that burns away the knot in your stomach,
sets ablaze the horizon, all that your eyes
can see--that has been promised

to you since your cry pierced the morning air:
your parents bathed you with kisses,
baptized you with caresses,

swaddled you in care before you uttered
your first words to the moon, sun, stars,
wobbled your first steps into unknowing--

all the while rising into your inheritance.
And if you awaken under the branches of a cotton
tree, cradled in its roots, draw a circle around

yourself and all those whom you love, cross
yourself three times before you step over
the threshold. Welcome the ancestors,

all the kindly spirits who have followed you,
your parents across many seas, oceans,
and deserts; entertain them with strong drink

and soft food: rice, yams, bananas, the ever
present rum to bless the hands that have lifted
you up, and sanctified the place you now call home.
--Geoffrey Philp; JM(from his forthcoming collection, Dub Wise)


"Kissed your breasts with lips that are Potter's Hands
To reshape their ancient gold...
Held your head in my palms as a Sun among trees,
Eye whispered to God:
Oh, Taste of endless Fruit, be mine!
--LeRoy Clarke; TT


LOVECHILD
make incense from the flowers
dance naked in the light
weave a blanket
fringed with stars
to cover you at night
breathe kisses to the morning
braid songs into your hair
blow wishes on
the feathered spores
that surf the curls of air
and if a storm should hurt you
pour honey on the pain
chase the clouds
and catch them
then laugh!
and drink the rain
-- Dianne Borsenik; US


funeral wreath
some of the flower buds
still to be opened
--gillena cox; TT


All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
--William Shakespeare (1564-1616)


Join the celebration at Lunch break; Poem In Your Pocket 2010; if you
email me a poem i'll post it today. Last years celebration can be seen here

'Poem In Your Pocket' its origin here

Opening

Early dawn's curtain,
Drawn to reveal rain showers,
And a pertinent absence of birdsong;
The hum of a motor engine;
The coolness of this morning,
Is quickly snatched away,
As the rain subsides;
Bird songs;
Kiskadee,kiskadee,kiskadee,
And sunlight floods the morning
Curtain call

opening windows-
a reservoir of raindrops
on leaves
--gillena cox

Serendipity

Sunday Afternoon

Trinis Say

The Drought

Earth Day 2010

internet image from...



power cut -
time snatched from
the face of the clock
--gillena cox

Earth day poems and songs

revisit Earth Day 2009

Sunlight

Pink Poui

Sky

Red Clouds

A Rain Hoorah

dawn -
before bird songs
the rain
--gillena cox

Woodford Square

Read also'Woodford Square'; a haibun at Simply Haiku Winter 2005, vol 3 no 4

A Greying

Traffic Jam

Bice

Grocery

Rain Tease

Bird Songs

Unfurled

Send a bougainvillae E-greeting

Thriving

send a bougainvillea e - greeting

Crown Of Thorns

internet photo from

crown of thorns
through the window of the bus
potted plants
--gillena cox



Good Friday 2008 St Mary's RC Church St James Trinidad - slide show



Today, Good Friday, crown of thorns is also symbolic in the Christian remembrances of the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ; John the Evangelist wrote ...Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said,"Hail, King of the Jews!" and they smote him with their hands...more here