Soucouyant

I tear at my flesh.
Cry-
tears to quench drought,
but not this.
Internal inferno.
Who am I?
Who I am,
trapped.
Serpentine veins wrap round, writhing
under amniotic flesh.
Blood pulsing hot.
Flaming, flowing, longing
to break free.
How
can
flesh feel so wrong?
I tear and claw.
Bleed.
Till I burst.
Born, I rise.
Flaming ball.
Slipping off sac like skin,
I fly.
And burn, burn, burn
the world.
There is revelation in revolution.
Evolution in liberation.
My true self revealed.
Oh, how they wait with salt!
But they cannot touch me.
Now I am.
Free.

Welcome to the Boys' club
You can play here
But you'll never be one of us!

Because you can't laugh
Or smile
And make light of
Darkness

You can't accept the
Blackness
And drink frustration
Away

Turn a blind eye
Or cheek
Go with the flow
No!

You want justice
In an unjust world!
Change in a system
Rusted to immobility!

Welcome to the Boys' club
You can play here
If you learn the rules and
Place a fist in your mouth
To stifle the screams.

Night time song

The sky has bled it's colours
Through and through
The sun protests in glaring gold
A last attempt to stay the night time hold

Weary shadows hang over
Weary heads bent low
Black veils of silk, float and flow
And cover earth in hushed secrets, slow

Now the movement under sky,
A low hum and hymn, the nighttime din
Of impatient travelers that long for home

In lines of longing, rumbling
The vibrations of tired, negro streets
Lit by artificial light, down low and up high
Trapped in metal cages they sigh

Some where in the distance, far above
The birds have taken up a call and cry
For home, and fly they do

While down below, all around
Those tied to earth and ground
Begin their night time song.

Legends of the Forest Master- Part 1: The Meeting of Land and Sea

Once upon a time ago,
A river through the forest flowed
A silver line through the green,
Deep into the woods, did it lead

And in the shining waters deep,
The fairy maids did slowly creep
Follow silently, by and by
Upon the Lady, they were made to spy

Silver Lady, with shining hair
Gleaming by the waters edge
And she sang, as she brushed,
A song to awaken mortal lust

But in these woods,
Long time ago,
The steps of man
Was not yet known

But deep within the sacred heart,
Along secret ways,
And untrodden paths
There dwelt the Master of the Woods

Young he was at that time,
And newly come to his claim,
Passed down from a father slain
In the wars that raged and passed,
In ages old and places vast

When Earth and Sea were at odds
And fought for time and space,
Long ago, in ages hence
The world was a different place

So the young Master heard her song,
And though not mortal,
His heart did long
And followed he the tune
To the water's edge

He beheld her, shining like a star
And admired her beauty from a far
Her smile was like a twilight sky,
Her steps were lithe,
Her movements flowed
Slowly, gently
Like water over stone

Her singing then she stopped,
And suddenly did turn,
As though Fate's hand had made her whirl.
The young Master now was lost
In the eyes of this water girl

Now the world must surly change,
By destiny's decree
In this wood, on this eve
Was the meeting of
Land and Sea.

---


Legends of the Forest Master Part 2: The Spider's Plot

In this world, unknown to man
Flowed the river into land,
For many a night and endless days
Came the Lady, along the forest way
To the Master who was waiting

Through the woods they walked,
In the shadow of the trees,
Along the river banks,
Caressed by gentle breeze

And as they passed,
The birds who nested
Made a mighty song,
Of love and loss,
And hope renewed,
That echoed far and long

And all who heard,
Their hearts were glad
Save one, who, in darkness dwelt
One who used strife and fear
And deceit, to gain his wealth

The Spider, black like night
Sat brooding in the dark,
Black thoughts of how, those two,
He could tear apart

'There is nothing to be gained
By uniting Land and Sea,
No profit, no use, no benefit
Is this peace to me!'

And so he hatched his plan,
As dark and fell as he
A plan to call ruin down,
And sunder once again,
That which had begun to heal.

---



Legend of the Forest Master Part 3: The Lord of the Sea

In the oceans deep,
Under swirling teal,
There lay the Merman kingdom,
Beneath the foamy veil

Mighty was the Merman king,
Master of his domain,
Lord to all that swam and grew
Under the blue-green plain

One daughter had he,
Much beloved by him,
Lady of the Water,
And heir to all his realm

But restless was her spirit;
Determined was her heart
To see beyond the coral walls,
From the kingdom to depart

And unable to deny her this,
He allowed her to be free
To roam beyond the kingdom
All that was bounded by the sea

The fairy maids he set
To follow and to keep
Watch over her
In this time of uneasy peace.

And he waited in the caverns
Near the sacred pools,
For their return,
And bringing of their news

Long he waited,
But no maids came, in stead
In to the cave, a shadow rose
And formed, it seemed, a head

Dark was it's face and voice,
As it told of a doom that fell
Upon his daughter and the maids,
Trapped and under a spell!

'A spell of the Land Master's making'
Said the Spider to the King
'Through your daughter's pain,
He seeks to have
Revenge for a father slain'

And the Merman, hearing this
Did feel his heart enrage,
All around , the tempest swirled,
The Sea, it's anger would wage!

And placing his conch upon his lips,
He blew a sound that shook
through the caverns, and places deep
Down and down, it went
To wake the Great Serpant from his sleep

---

Legend of the Forest Master Part 4: Fall of the Forest Master

The mighty waves of the Sea
Crashed against the Land,
Fury resounding through rock and leaf,
A new war was at hand!

The Master of the Wood
Alone, he stood
And waited in the heart,
His eyes fixed on the ground,
Seeking the river's path

But no water flowed in land,
The Lady did not come,
And in that dry earth he read
Some evil was at hand

Away, away
The Lady had strayed,
After her fairy maids
Who had been misled
To the Spider's lair

In time to free them,
She had come,
But the Spider's plan was unfurled,
The Sea was coming to the Land
Its fury, fully hurled!

Fled the Forest Master to land's edge,
Answered he the cry,
The Great Serpant's head rising from the deep,
Did he dreadfully spy

And the two fought,
And valiant though he be,
The Master of the Wood did fall
Against the Serpant of the Sea

The Earth did tremble at his fall,
And break, and split apart
And the Lady's tears did fall,
And gathered in the broken parts

The river, quickly did it flow
To the edge of land,
Into her arms, his still form she took,
And wept on the golden sand

---

Legend of the Forest Master Part 5: The Union of Land and Sea

The Forest Master did lie,
In the stillness of night,
The Lady held him close,
Her lips to his pressed tight,

And all around the shadows closed,
And wept both Land and Sea
And the Spider's laugh could be heard,
Though him, they could not see

The Merman king did mourn,
At the folly that was wrought,
To the Serpant did he command
'The Spider must be sought!'

The Lady heard him not,
For between her will and Death's
A battle was being fought

And on that golden shore,
where her love's broken body lay,
The poison she withdrew
Death's hand did she stay

Into her, the Lady took
The venom of the Snake,
After which she fled from land
Before the Master could awake

Long did he search for her,
Whose only memory left,
Were pools and streams
Of tears, in a land bereft

One day as he wandered
In the high wood,
He heard the sound of singing,
And gently as he could
Approached the Lady at the water's edge

Seeing him she turned,
Quickly, as to flee
'Please Lady!' did he cry
'Why do you run from me?'

Nothing did she say,
But downward cast her eyes,
And from the water, a rattling sound
And then a tail did rise

And the Master saw
What she had hidden well
Half water maid, half serpent
Was what he beheld

'Dearly did you buy my life'
Said the Forest Master at last
'It matters not this form, or all that has gone past
If you will it so, from this day I decree
And let the forest and the stream bear witness
To the union of Land and Sea'.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2012

The rumble of heaven shakes the granite ceiling,
Not so much in fury, but a slow agony, swelling, trembling,
Threathning to break free and burst forth on to the world.
The air is thick,heavy, suffocating
And all that move beneath do so hurriedly, in dreaded anticipation
The world grows quiet, almost still, like a drawing in of breath
Before the slow weeping begins.
But not all tears are that of pain, and we two, did laugh as others ran,
scurried away from the rain, seeking shelter.
What better shelter is there than the newness of love?
Arm in arm we walked, staggered; grinning faces turned heaven ward
Water streaked down our faces, dripped from hair and soaked clothes as we
reveled in its' coldness, laughing at our private joke
Bringing light to a gray world, as one day, it's memory would bring light to a gray life.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2012

Roads diverge and not only,
In a yellow wood,
But anywhere along the realm
Of might, and should and could

Along the road of traveled best,
And traveled less,
And traveled not at all,
The trees, their leaves, from green to gold
Do change and gently fall

Cry not for these leaves,
Carried by the wind,
For dreams, like roads,
Do twist and turn
And end, and start again

We are all but travelers,
Each on their chosen path,
And at times, the heart will mourn,
Regret the choice,
And longingly look back

But time is short on these roads,
And forward it must flow,
All roads pass through flower beds
and fields of thorns,
But in the end, to the same place go.

(c)Geeta Boodansingh 2011