The Divine Poet: Jai Saraswati Ma

My mother gave me speech,
That I may sing and teach,
Praises to her name,
And whisper breaths of the eternal truth.

She gave me mind,
That I may find,
That virtous path of knowledge,

And heart,to temper, like water to steel
Ego’s aggression,
And so let my soul wield
The blade of wisdom.

Her face I see in the newly risen moon,
Alight with radiant beauty.
Her voice I hear on the restless wind,
That compels my soul to rise up,
Like the swell of that tide, reaching to heaven’s glory.

Her love runs deep,
Through and through,
Blood to heart,
River to ocean.
See how each comes home at last?
Into the arms of something greater.

My mother gave me life,
So that I can feel this joy
Of that creation she inspired
And be moved by her eternal poetry
That is writ upon this Earth.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2010

The sea calls to me,
Her siren song invoking
That longing in my heart

From land I depart,
Set sail,
Open water,
Open heart,
Wind blowing,
The sun, on the horizon, glowing

Songs of freedom on my salt kissed lips,
As I pull from that eternal womb,
Her bounty freely given.

I feel the cut of the line,
Smooth against skin roughened by toil
Blood for blood.
Now I am a part of her forever,
Mother from whence we all came,

And she cares for us, her children
Though we long left her,
Seeking out that life on land
But still she reaches for us,
Foamy fingers caressing golden sand.

The sea calls to me,
Her siren song invoking
That longing to return to a freedom lost.

(c) Geeta Boodansingh 2010

The Final Battle: Of the beginning and the Fall of the Guardians.

In the days of nothingness,
all was black with emptiness;
The Gods then did the dance of light,
And dawn then came, golden bright
From this spark began the world,
And life slowly did unfurl;
Then in the gardens of the past,
The fate of elven kind was cast,
For the Goddess of life laid down,
From her body the realm she formed,
Sky and rock and tree and sea,
All from her they came to be,
Her spirit then did fill the land,
And molded elves from golden sand,
Into them her life she breathe,
And power too, did she seed;
A link she formed,
With living elf,
And earth and sky and sea,
And self,
To tend her realm the elves did yearn,
The art of life did they learn,
But in the darkness there had been,
Vile things that lurked unseen within,
And evil did they try to breed,
Destruction did they try to seed;
So the Gods they danced again,
And to the realm,
Guardians send,
They came in mail and raiment bright,
Armed with the glory of the light,
And fled, the evil, from their might,
To a realm far from sight
Then the guardians stayed in guise,
Of lesser Gods and Goddesses wise,
And taught the elves their power to use,
Light over dark for them to choose
And so the age of elves began;
Far before the coming of man,
Who came from a realm beyond this place,
And knew not the light of grace;
So the guardians, then did take,
Mortal form so in man to wake,
Knowledge of the realm in which they dwelt,
And respect for all of nature’s wealth,
But man though quick in learning grew,
From them no magic did ensue,
And jealous they become of elves,
And angry with the guardians themselves,
And so they broke the ancient ties,
Defying the will of the guardians,
Then in the lands did strife arise,
The guardians then in anger shed,
The blood of man,
After which it is said,
From grace the guardians fast they fell,
What happened then no one could tell,
But the legends, still they say
The guardians will return one day,
When the angram does appear,
And demons rule with fright and fear,
Then the Final Battle will begin,
And the champions of light will win,
If found in time a weapon of might,
Forged by Arya for the light,
So now this song unfinished be,
Until that day of bliss and glee,
When a new age the realm will see,
Till then light’s victory will be the elven plea.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2006

Conversations with Druva

They talk about the end time,
The age of kali yuga some say
Where life is cheap and morality twisted,
Corruption the new way

And they wait
For a savior to come,
God to incarnate,
Save the righteous from this hell

They pray for this miracle,
This judgment day to come.
Blind eyes turn to heaven,
Empty hearts plead for salvation,
And hands, wasted make obeisance

The words are spoken,
The rituals performed…
But the meaning is lost.
When they leave your hallowed halls
The teachings are not even distant memories

And they wait
For their beliefs to come true,
Casting down of demons and serpents,
The transformation of this world anew

If only they did more than talk
And wait.
If only they knew to find God in the
Here and now.

Find divinity and grace
In the kindness of one stranger to another,
In the stars, in the sunrise,
In the beauty of this Earthly place

If only they would cast aside the rituals,
And not get lost in the words of the prayers
But understand that to serve God
Is to serve mankind.

Honour this home and all the inhabitants,
These familiar walls of flesh and bone
Best serve the spirit by dealing acts of kindness,
Allowing hands to help and heal,
Not cast stones.

And God will come again to this world,
And evil shall fall,
Come not to one place,
Or as Messiah to a persecuted people,
But to all.

Then they will realize that they need not wait,
For God never left.
Instead it was man who went astray and did not see
That all are one,
Flesh, and earth, and gas and dust entwined,
Forever inseparable from divinity.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2010.9.07

Crystal Life

This life is but a waking dream,
Its moments writing in the sand,
Washed away by the ocean’s tide,
Molded by fate’s hand,

This life is but a blink of an eye,
Before you know it’s gone,
But even the darkest of the nights,
Is followed by the dawn,

This life it seems is crystal,
Refracting solar light,
Distorted colours mingling,
Into a myriad bright,
And even if the colours are not exactly what they seem,
There still lies beauty in every single beam,

This crystal it is fragile,
Shattered easily,
Changing forever the kaleidoscope,
Its pieces not lost however,
But remains shimmering memories.

Ode to the Stars

The eyes of the universe shining bright,
Reflecting glory and ancient might.
Timeless they seem to the mortal mind,
In the eternal tapestry hope we find.
As the darkness deepens, brighter they be,
Reminding the weary of a greater power unseen.
Among them we've hung our wishes on high,
And carved from them legends and gods in the sky.
They reign forever like immortal kings,
Humility and awe to mankind they bring,
And light forever to generations unborn,
Watching as guardians,
To forever they are sworn.
From the death of one another may rise,
Like a flaming phoenix burning night's sky,
Ensuring mankind always will see
Glowing bright in patterns of light,
The jewels of his hopes, his dreams, and his final destiny.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2004

Song for the Mermen

He lights his pipe as they gather round,
Children with hopeful, eager faces
Longing for the old man’s tales
Of myths and legends from forgotten places

A fisherman, was I he said,
A poor but honest living,
Out to sea from early morn’
To catch what the Lord was giving

One day the waters rough they be,
The wind all round was raging,
A war beneath the blue green tide,
The mermaid folk were waging

The waters rose like savage hands,
That tore me from my boat,
A fight I had against nature’s wrath
To try and stay afloat

I saw him then, upon the wave’s crest
Clad in princely attire,
Half man, half fish with a mane of red,
Blazing like a fire

He took me then to his abode
A secret cavern deep,
A place of blue green mystic pools,
Where fairy maids did sleep

I stumbled round in my haze of doubt,
And asked if this was real,
"Wake not the maids," was his reply
"For they might your shadow steal."

Great merman! I said to him,
What is to become of me?
For all that I lived by in this world
Now lies beneath the sea.

"A boon I will grant you"
He said at length
"A gift of knowledge and of wealth,
But this does not come for free,
A price you must pay to me."

"My race is old," he went on to say
"Twilight dawns on our day.
And unlike my kin of the land,
Papa Bois and Mama Dglo,
Not much of us does your race know."

"Make a song to tell our tale,
Be my bard, in this, don’t fail
And life and fortune will be your prize
Through your tales my race won’t die."

So he gave to me these gifts,
Eloquence and grace of tongue
So to you this tale I sung.
Now to sleep you must go, and
in dreamland play
To dream of those oceans deep,
where the mermen stay.

©2010 by Geeta Boodansingh

Eternity

We stood it seemed forever,
Under ebony skies,
The sea, like black glass beneath us
Reaching out endlessly for miles.
Wrapped in darkness,
Infinity engulfing us in a place
Where time slowed,
And eternity was born on moments
where time could be counted by the beating of hearts,
And I listened to the sound, sweet music long denied me
Carried by its echoes, floating as though on that open sea
Trusting what I dared not trust before,
The skeptic silenced by a faith I never knew I had,
And reservations were laid aside.
In that moment I could see the world through your eyes,
A place of limitless beauty and wonder,
For one moment it seemed I could touch heaven,
Glimpse it secrets, feel its serenity.
For one moment the world was perfect,
And I was free.

Things change,
Fall apart or hold.
The season turns,
A new wind blows

Is it the mournful chill of a harsh winter?
Or the zephyr of a new spring?
Only time will tell.
But both are needed,
For through the bitterness of loss,
The triumph of joy is made sweeter still.

Things change,
As people do.
Friends come and go
But they leave their impressions

Like footprints in sand,
Washed away, but that shore shall never be the same.
Touched by, as it touches back countless lives.

Things change,
For that is life,
And life is growth,
A metamorphosis
Of mind, body and soul.
Fleeting, like the emotions that it brings
Undulating, like the wave of that eternal sea

Things change,
A new sun rises,
A reminder that nothing that dies is lost forever.
The season turns,
And I welcome the new wind that blows.