Poetry: Leonard Dabydeen

Leonard Dabydeen

SHOOTING GANDHI
(150 years anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi(1869-2019)

Clouds
of
darkness
will not bring
blanket on our dreams
his light will luminesce our hopes
in pursuance of ahimsa among our people.
Gandhiji will guide us in spirit and confluence
beyond bullets of Nathuram
Hindu aur Muslim
zindagee
pyar ke
in
God.
***


THIRD EYE
(Dorian Hurricane)

Where
this
inner
Falcon sees
with a sharp vision
wings up high, mapping the target
Eye of Dorian bulges, rage of a hurricane.
Swooping mightily in a Category 4 storm
deep into Bahamas heartland
wreck catastrophic
monster surge
scouting
for
death.
***


LOVE OF NATURE

In the waning cascades
of an evening sun
I straddle across
edge of a silent pond
settle on rustic rocks
beneath a sycamore tree
in a vigil moment
eyes scan the horizon
lingering in nonchalance
at the curtain
of an orange-glow sky
with wind singing
among blades of grass
whispering in monotone
while rabbits query
rich garden vegetation
suspecting organic grocery
unreal
listening to horses neighing
pigs grunting
quiet wading of geese
in a sudden water rush
over a lingering stream
my eyes follow an ant hill
black ants congregating
for a night cap
as the evening
draws a curtain
good night
full of love.
***


Soul

Soul
strolls
around
mind, body
archiving actions
hereafter it will reveal itself
in the solstices and equinoxes as newborn.
***


Bapu ji (died Jan. 30, 1948)
(a tetractys poem – inverted)

When
I was
thirteen days
old and crying
Mama said Nathuram shot Bapu ji.

Bapu ji clasped his hands and smiled at him
nod in silence
said, ‘Ram, Ram’.
Eyes closed
gone.

Setu, September 2019