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Contents
Contents
Live In The Moment
Climbing Koffel
Sarajevo
I Went To Darfur
The People of Haiti
The Wadi
Ta Dum
Sanctuary
Live In The Moment
Tomorrow’s not here yet,
Yesterday’s gone,
Live in the moment,
Get up with the dawn,
Look forward not back,
Be quite clear,
Live in the moment,
Not in fear,
Put on a smile,
Have a laugh,
Live in the moment,
Don’t let life chaff,
Take each day,
In the here and now,
Live in the moment,
Show others how,
To make the most,
Of each day given,
Live in the moment,
And stay driven,
For at day’s end,
Knowing without question,
Live in the moment,
Make no concession.
Climbing Koffel
I climbed a Bavarian mountain once,
Atop was a rugged hewn cross,
Keeping watch over the valley below,
A lone sentinel - a sign for those lost,
Embedded in the granite rock,
It rose into the air,
A height much taller than I,
Its worn wood standing bare,
I almost did not make it there,
I halted at the base,
My first attempt was feeble and weak,
Fear in my heart did race,
I looked within and told myself,
This cross is here for you,
A few more steps there is all there is,
To behold a magnificent view,
I leaned hard and low to climb that rock,
And boldly I did not look down,
Carefully making my way to the top,
Upon that granite crown,
And as I stood there in its midst,
Emblazoned by the setting sun,
The satisfaction of my work,
Reaching the cross was done,
I looked down at Oberammergau,
Remembering the Passion Play,
As I had just climbed Koffel,
That glorious Bavarian day.
Sarajevo
A city named Sarajevo,
The heart of Balkan life,
Croats, Muslims and Serbs,
Suffered through war’s strife,
Bombarded from the hillsides,
Guns in the mountains blared,
Their gift of steely death,
From which no-one was spared,
Snipers on the rooftops,
Innocent lives did take,
For reasons still unknown,
Mercy did forsake,
A city of such culture,
Beauty to behold,
Sarajevo of the Balkans,
War’s horror to be told,
A waste of life and purpose,
There was no useful gain,
Lives lost forever,
A city never to be the same,
The graves by the thousands,
Fill hillsides for all to see,
A highway clover leaf,
Silent cemetery,
There is no just reason,
For what was done,
Sarajevo’s treasure,
Ruined by the guns,
I pray for Sarajevo,
May her people find true peace,
May future generations,
Be spared from war’s beast.
I Went to Darfur
I went to Darfur,
To seek a peace which never came,
Two million in camps,
Lives forever changed,
Like cattle in their camps,
Living lives the same,
Their culture gone forever,
Never again regained,
The wind, sand and desert heat,
At times the desert rain,
For the people of Darfur,
Does not relieve their pain,
Homes destroyed forever,
Burned to the ground,
Butchered family members,
Their screams an awful sound,
The world will only watch,
As cultural genocide,
Is debated openly,
While practiced Darfur wide,
The children of Darfur,
Deserve more than they receive,
A plastic sheet, some sticks,
Their home they now believe,
I went to Darfur,
To help bring the peace,
Nothing further from the truth,
Will war ever in Darfur cease?
The People of Haiti
The island country of Haiti,
The west half of Hispaniola,
Where people sing and dance,
The language of Creole,
From the slums of City Soleil,
To the austerity of Port de Paix,
The mansions of Petionville,
Haiti’s beauty does not belie,
The strength of the Haitian people,
Colorful hues of their art,
Simple soapstone sculpture,
Or songs from their heart,
Amidst human poverty,
On a scale oh so rare,
The people of Haiti,
Cannot ever dare,
To change their circumstance,
Through public despair,
They labor for their existence,
Sometimes refuse as their fare,
The evils of Haiti,
Her people so oppressed,
Uneducated and impoverished,
They know not how to address,
To see a life snuffed out,
Stacked corpses at the morgue,
At Port au Prince Hospital,
Mob anger so abhorred,
There can never be true justice,
Or freedom from fear,
As the people of Haiti,
Their voices we cannot hear.
The Wadi
The scout on horseback found us,
Standing amidst the barren surroundings of Northern Darfur,
The helicopter was quiet after the chop, chop, flush, rush flight from El Fasher,
Then suddenly they appeared,
The dump truck people came to get us,
Driving a decrepit relic once used for hauling tons of rock and sand,
I watched as the rust encrusted once yellow truck stopped,
Its occupants beckoned to us,
One by one we climbed into the hollow back our hosts pulling us hope,
Then chug, chug across an open track,
No road to follow only sand and brown strands of grass,
Over a rise then down into the depths of the desert terrain,
Suddenly out of nowhere,
A party of men some with weapons,
Gathered around us and led us down a gentle slope under a large low lying tree,
We sat legs crossed in the sand,
Listening as the interpreter told of the fight,
The commander telling us he would rather fight than surrender,
All under a tree in the middle of nowhere in Darfur,
And then the meeting ended,
A young man approached saying he had a masters degree in geology,
But he too chose to fight,
To live among the scrub and brush,
Hiding from government aircraft to attack their installations,
The wadi was his home,
A place where he and his mates conspired,
Planned and pursued dreams of liberty only to be left behind,
I remember the wadi,
The camouflage clothes of the men some with automatic weapons,
And then we left with nothing more than empty words spoken.
The shaded heat sweltering around us,
Refreshing to the soul to see such courage,
Despite knowing they had no chance of ever winning their war.
Ta Dum
The World Goes Round,
Ta Dum-
With Wonders That Astound,
Ta Dum-
Places Not Yet Found,
Ta Dum-
Not Making Any Sound,
Ta Dum.
Wars Rape And Burn,
Ta Dum-
People At Every Turn,
Ta Dum-
Those Who Forever Yearn,
Ta Dum-
No One Ever Learns,
Ta Dum.
Death Begets The Dying,
Ta Dum-
Raise Glasses While Lying,
Ta Dum-
Hate Filled Words Flying,
Ta Dum-
Promises We Are Buying,
Ta Dum.
Where Do We Live?
Ta Dum-
Some Try To Give,
Ta Dum-
Darkness Shadows A Shiv,
Ta Dum-
Paying Homage To Siv-a,
Ta Dum.
Sanctuary
I should like to go to the side of a hill and build my house - -
A secluded place with a view of open land
pristine forests and fields. A house for shelter:
with a warm fire,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to an oasis of tall trees and pitch my tent - -
A restful place with a view of open land
endless sand and wadis. A tent for shelter:
with a full well,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to the heart of a rainforest and build my treehouse - -
A safe place with a view of open land
thick canopy and streams. A treehouse for shelter:
with a tall ladder,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to the openness of the tundra and build my balok - -
A warm place with a view of open land
treeless biome and frost. A balok for shelter:
with a sturdy sled,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to the plains of Massai Marra and build my inkajijik - -
A protected place with a view of open land
dry grass and cattle. A inkajijk for shelter:
with a strong kraal,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to the lands of Zhujiang Delta and build my fangzi - -
A traditional place with a view of open land
rice paddies and water. A fangzi for shelter
with a steaming teapot,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to the beach by the sea and build my houseboat - -
A sturdy place with a view of open land
endless waves and reefs. A houseboat for shelter
with a billowing sail,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
I should like to go to the heights of a mountain and build my castle - -
A romantic place with a view of open land
running rivers and valleys. A castle for shelter
with a high wall,
a sanctuary for myself and my family.
Copyright Harry Vann Phillips 2020
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