Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Rocks in the glow









Over thousands of years, thousands,
on days the sun shines brightly,
fifteen minutes before it sets,
a high mountain we call Devil’s Peak
becomes a golden monument.

Such a day, rocks like these,
millions, billions of them
have glowed so brightly
with the joy of life and energy.
And we walk, cycle and run in the holy glow.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

To be like a cloud

Mountain, tree, sea -
holding clouds, frame clouds, change with it, 
just slower, much slower.

Clouds are different –
slow, fast, imperfectable, forceful, peaceful, changeable
that's how it will be, how it is.

And that’s how I can really be, am, want to be –
like a cloud, a mountain, a tree, the sea.

That it is my birthday wish today.


Friday, February 28, 2014

Gospel of grass


On a hot, summer's day it’s all about grass.
Grass in crowds of small, dry pods at the end of long brown stems that waltz towards the sun.
Or green blades that sway like dancers on very long, slim legs.
And small grass forests along the path.
This universe of grass must surely be the holder of something big and secret.

Not just grass.

A fly, a blade, a stream.
Grass bleached white like whale bones by the afternoon sun.
Tree trunk with stones collected from a long gone flooded river.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

And the sky burns


The sun sets early in Deer Park -
a place with a green and tranquil heart
and where a stream always sings,
here at the gentle foot of massive Platteklip.

But then, when driving home,
a fire of a sunset jumps from Lion’s Head
and sets the sky alight with burning clouds,
freeing the city, the mountain, the world.

While in Deer Park all was soft, green and tranquil.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A mountain whisper

At dusk, rain threatened.
A soft musky fragrance of incense curled from the mosque on Signal Hill.

Beyond the mosque, just down the path where everyone walks or runs,
hidden in the fynbos, is a scattering of kramats.
This place is where six or seven Islamic wise men and teachers
have been buried for centuries.

Some kramats are ornate, some just marked by stones,
but all covered with a fabric chadar,
pilgrims’ sign of devotion and reverence.

Over here all the kramats are also surrounded by fynbos -
rose-scenting pelargoniums, imphepho, wild rosemary.
On this day rain drops down on the chadars,
mist covers the pine trees and the big mountain slowly disappears.

As-salam alaykum. Peace be upon you, whispers the mountain.
And it does.
Rain drops  on the chadar.





Friday, January 24, 2014

Breathing rocks


At six o’clock, as the week folded its wings into the weekend,
the rain swept down – hurried, lightly – like a veil in the wind.

This is when the mountain is turned into a jewellery box,
and every leaf, branch and flower
is draped in diamonds and sapphires and crystals.

But the magic that flings itself forward –
that makes me gasp at their beauty,
are simply two rocks,
breathing in the light of the setting sun.



Thursday, January 23, 2014

Two pine needles


It’s a windless summer afternoon on the mountain.

On a knobbly rock under a thick-barked old pine tree
exists a lichen and moss artwork in a hidden shady spot.

Today just two pine needles cross gently over this masterpiece
and swallows fly fast and sharply under small flag whistles.

It’s hot.