Stick 30 - The Line

The invisible thinner than thin line

A dear friend of mine was sent to jail at a very young age and to this day I believe with all my heart that he was innocent. He served his time in silent paleness for two long years,  and I remember vividly one mid winter's afternoon as we tried to ignore the cold in the visitor's room,  I asked him a question. I asked whether it was hard for him to be there amongst those who have genuinely committed some horrible crimes. He got tears in his eyes and said... " I have come to realise that humans decide about right and wrong every second of the day and sometimes a split second decision, pushes a person over the very thin line which seperates the right from wrong". I remember his words as I write this today...

I wish I could gift to you today
straight from the garden of care and concern
a single stem flower, head held high
called yesterday, today and tomorrow

Your right wipe the wrong of yesterday
Your white embrace the black today
Your hurt fuse with the hope of tomorrow
and your life speak of being strong

I now realise as I grow old
How much a blurred line I have lived
How many unforgivable times I faded the invisible line
How often I hurt and wronged and slurred

My yesterday will not let go
My tomorrow cannot begin
as my today is trapped in the middle of the invisible thinner than thin line

Stick 29 - The Birth

Photo supplied by Hendriette du Plessis

The beginning ...of all life, is the journey we take
From our mother's womb we travel to a destiny fate
We arrive and are inspected at life's gate
We gracefully accept a totally empty life slate

Sometimes during our birth we hear our mothers cry out
Their voices calling us to grab onto every moment without doubt
As they hug us to their breast in the after of the birth
We taste their salty tears and wonder how we can avoid this hurt

The birth canal lay dormant till we reach our own birthing years
It it then that we realise
It is then that we see
How much a mother and a father
Is meant to set us free

Stick 28 - Tango

You asked me to Tango
I knew you knew how
You smiled as you stepped forward
You knew what would happen now

Your large palm opened and encouraged my hand
as I braced with determination and tried to understand
Your hand nestled tightly on the small of my back
as you led me to the dance floor and kissed my neck

You laughed as you enjoyed the smell of my hair
when you nestled forward with a message of care
But while the music was still playing, you let go of my hand
you left the dancefloor, while I found it hard to stand

I still wanted to Tango
I still wanted to be held
I wanted to drink from the moon
I wanted to lie in a spoon
I so much, now and always still wanted you

Stick 27 - Lifeline

The lifeline inside my palm

I turn my hand and stare at my palm
I see the lines that foretell of a time of no harm
I cusp-hug my hand and trace-embrace my lifeline 

and all of a sudden, and all at once, I cannot but wonder ...

how to know how far I have come?
when will I reach the criss-cross of time?
where will my spirit start to depart?
who will be inside my heart?
what will be said about the way I played my part?

Stick 26 - Peach Orchard

Peach orchard at midday

Cicadas gossiping through the trees
Ladders leaning against tree trunks
Baskets brimming with fresh pink-cheek fruit
Peach aroma in the rich afternoon air
Sky bright blue, Sun the glue, Summer hue

I want you

Laughter as we chase through the grass,
as we hide behind trees,
as we want everything to last….

Stick 25 - Shanghai Wedding

The Yangtze flowed fast...

... and the trading boats marched past. She stood in the cool night air, soft wind brushing her hair and her slender fingers gripped onto the rails. The black of her hair challended the night of nights. Her Shanghai wedding was closer than close. 

The boat horns chopped a path through the misty river fog, as they lengthened their haste and brightened their lights to rush through the water and dock at the port. Their hulls filled with loads of ribbons and silk and fresh flowers and tiaras and food and candles and silver shoes.

She saw them speed past, she knew the moment could not last. Tomorrow at dawn, she will uncloak the past and dress for the next phase to last. Her wedding would be filled with branches of gifts. Her hands will spread the oil of love over the coming years as the moss moments grow on the Shanghai evening Yangtze river rails.

Stick 24 - It's Her

I saw her arms outstreched so wide...

...and her red hair curls thrown back in delight. She laughed with total abandonement, her eyes so bright, her mouth so wide. As if on que, the dark blue sky chanted and rumbled as cloud lovers do. Their twists and turns, so beautifully bright, joined the earthdance as it silver-forked through the night. With no second to spare, those massive promise drops splattered down with so much ease. The smell of wet dust rose within all of us as we watched what was to now unfold.

The rain drenched her face and her beautiful hair, it ran down her neck and circled her breasts. The rain formed a navel dam and when that broke it cascaded down her female hip. It gathered speed as the river spread and covered the valley to meet the ocean. She was now totally submerged and drenched and she swam with grace to the ends of the earth and joined the middle of time and place in the inbetween special space.