The Cottage Facing the Forest

That wooden cottage facing -

the forest , once that was mine,

A wee stream flowed by languidly

Singing angelic hymns divine.

Little fish swam in the water

And lazy prawns hung to weeds,

Birds of all songs, sizes, shades

Flew about in search of seeds.

Peacocks danced on the banks

As from trees their mates called,

Waves over the stones clapped

 As winds on the banks balled.

Deer, rabbits, foxes and boars

Paid me visits every still night,

But when the elephants’ herd

Rolled past, was a roaring sight.

Now, I’m distant from the grove

That cottage and the jungle breeze,

The droopy dreams I’ve left behind

Lay around my  memories a seize.

I cannot return to the cute cottage,

The animals, birds, gobs and ghosts,

They send messages to my heart

They wait for me as eternal hosts.

Xavier Bage

Sun, Aug 28, 2016

A Morning Hymn

O Lord of glory and compassion

Whose word to the stars assigns,

The course to move and radiate

Yet tenderly on the man it shines.

I raise my spirit in fiery flames

Of multiple passion and strife,

Quell the heat of my earthly core

And give health to withering life.

You are the one I wholly trust

You are the source of my being,

Listen to my prayers, loving Father

That I lift with birds of morning.

Sun, Aug 28, 2016

 

Seeking the Love Evaporated

Where is my father, Papa

Oh, where can he now be?

Where is my mother, Papa

Tell me where can be she?

I see others have fathers

On their shoulders to freight

Others have mothers to take

To school and outside wait

See others eat best of snacks

During midday tiffin break

There’s no one to cook a dish

Just for my little joy’s sake!

The abandoned children two

Of a runaway faraway man

Seek the love evaporated

Their life an empty dry pan

The mother for some months

With them though remained

Didn’t fancy a life husbandless

Went a selfish way unchained

The little girls are with me now

Two legs of mine they hold

In God’s name, can I ever be

Be unkind to them and cold?

Xavier Bage

Tues, Aug 24, 2016