Jul 2011
The smell of life, roam the air
New life will flourish, in all its flair
Sky filled, with its bounty to bear
A bounty, for all, all to share
Rumpled old man, smiles at me, and continue his stare
Grey roll in, where sun, moon did stay
Young child and his dog, run home afrai
Mother and father, smile, nothing did they say
Thunder and lightning, kept me at bay
I’m so scared, why’re they all so gay
Water from heaven, my mind did race
Water it’s, it’s all over the place
Drops of rain, my sweat replace
Mother tried, to remove fear from my face
Rumpled old man, tomorrow, you’ll not recognize this place
Scared, I lay under my bed
Listening, to everything, everyone said
Even the passage of Noah, father read
How can this be, my dog hasn’t been fed
Scared, I fall asleep, under my bed
Dawn broke, to my surprise
Nothing came, from my thoughts of demise
I rush to the window, only to realize
Thunder and lightning, needed, for life to rise
Desert landscape, green, in front of my eyes
Dressed in pajamas, I run outside
My world turned, a carousel ride
I run, my dog aside
My foot slipped, I took a slide
Rumpled old man, laughs, with my every stride
Red, orange, yellow, turn as days passed
From where this bounty, so vast
I look at the old man, and ask
The answer, the desert landscape, only a mask
To see what you must, that’s your task.
New life will flourish, in all its flair
Sky filled, with its bounty to bear
A bounty, for all, all to share
Rumpled old man, smiles at me, and continue his stare
Grey roll in, where sun, moon did stay
Young child and his dog, run home afrai
Mother and father, smile, nothing did they say
Thunder and lightning, kept me at bay
I’m so scared, why’re they all so gay
Water from heaven, my mind did race
Water it’s, it’s all over the place
Drops of rain, my sweat replace
Mother tried, to remove fear from my face
Rumpled old man, tomorrow, you’ll not recognize this place
Scared, I lay under my bed
Listening, to everything, everyone said
Even the passage of Noah, father read
How can this be, my dog hasn’t been fed
Scared, I fall asleep, under my bed
Dawn broke, to my surprise
Nothing came, from my thoughts of demise
I rush to the window, only to realize
Thunder and lightning, needed, for life to rise
Desert landscape, green, in front of my eyes
Dressed in pajamas, I run outside
My world turned, a carousel ride
I run, my dog aside
My foot slipped, I took a slide
Rumpled old man, laughs, with my every stride
Red, orange, yellow, turn as days passed
From where this bounty, so vast
I look at the old man, and ask
The answer, the desert landscape, only a mask
To see what you must, that’s your task.
A story about a child that first saw rain when he was seven years old, inspired this poem together with the splendor of the flowers that appear after the annual rains in Namakwaland. The deeper meaning is that various events happen in our life which we have never experienced; automatically we are afraid, needlessly. We must just look around and ask people, especially the elderly, for guidance and help, for we do not know everything, but more importantly, we mustn’t be afraid of change or everything unusual.
