Caribbean Blues: Poetry and Pictures

“Again the sun god has risen late…”  ~ Chang Shiang-hua (Taiwan)

Two long days of rain and gray skies in DC… the only good thing is the snow is slowly being washed away.  Our neighbors across the street, facing west into the late sun (when it shines) have lots of visible grass.  Our front yard, shaded by the house, is still covered with snow and sprinkled with animal tracks and those sticky round seeds from the sweet gum tree.  Feeling a little blue for sunny days and Caribbean blues, I turn to poetry and pictures.  (Voices from around the world; scenes from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) (Be sure to double-click on photos to enlarge; use back arrow to return to post)

“White shells,/I still can hear the ocean sounds…” ~ Javier Heraud (Peru)

White Beach, Guana Island, BVI

“It is time/We stand like children/On the silent beach/And calmly wait for the moon…” ~ Xu De-min (China)

White Beach, Peter Island, BVI

“For the source, it takes time to reach the sea,/ for the star, it takes time to touch the eye,/ for the wind, it takes time to rock the boat…”  ~ Fuad Rifka (Lebanon)

Sailing toward Tortola, BVI

“Remember — each one, everyone,/storyteller, prophet and baker,/ the words of the feast and the words of the storm,/the sea shining like a medal in the landscape…” ~ Nadia Tueni (Lebanon)

St. John, USVI

“…water-loving birds fly, wiping the wind’s foam from their beaks…” Al Mahmud (Bangladesh)

Pelican taking a break...Turtle Bay, St. John, USVI

“I dreamt once of the sea/In the morning my bed was rich/with shells and fins.” ~ Muhammad al-Maghut (Syria)

Top-o-the-mountain, Guana Island, BVI

“And so the moss flourishes, the seaweed/whips around,/the sea pushes through and rolls back…” ~ Dahlia Ravikovitch (Israel)

A clear, calm tide pool full of sea urchins…

Hawksnest Bay, St. John, USVI

“The waves are erasing the footprints/Of those who are walking the beach…” ~ Kemal Ozer (Turkey)

Deadman's Bay, Peter Island, BVI

“Childhood is the only lasting flower…” ~ Ramon Diaz Eterovic (Chile)

Century plant, Great Bay, St. Thomas, USVI

“I want to draw wind,/mountains, each one bigger than the last./I want to draw…a fathomless sea…”  ~ Gu Cheng (China)

Sailing St. Croix, USVI

“…from here let’s dream of every distant thing/here let’s gather low-tide shells/from the sea of sky at dawn/let’s bring back little starfish…” ~ Shuntaro Tanikawa (Japan)

Double rainbows, Great Bay, St. Thomas, USVI

“I kindle my light over the whole Atlantic…/Unknown worlds, night-covered lands/awaken toward me!  ~ Edith Sodergran (Sweden)

El Castillo San Felipe del Morro with its maze of secret tunnels, dungeons, and lookouts has commanded San Juan Bay for nearly 500 years…

El Morro, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

“The sun dissolves:/ some pieces float/on the green sea/ which hurries to darkness…”  ~  Ramon Sunico (Philippines)

Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico

Looking at winter, thinking of summer, waiting for spring –

“we could …go to the shore/Where the willows have already released/their soft, soft swings./We could swing all the way from March to August…”  ~ Chang Shiang-hua (Taiwan)

About these ads