LEONARD DABYDEEN

 

LEONARD DABYDEEN

 

If There Is A Tomorrow

 

It is sometimes the look

In their eyes

or the look in their sulk faces

tousled heads of hair, uncombed

for many days or nights

clothes unkempt, smelly and ragged

almost like the mangy dogs

pantomiming their immigrant status

border children with no flight of fancy

hungry and hopeful what tomorrow brings

some have forgotten identities

Hungarian? Guatemalan?  El Paso

Via Rio Grande, no portrait of existence?

where are their siblings now?

children of the wind and cayotes?

For many, or for all, survival is but a dream

each to his or her own, no one knows

their teardrops staining faces

but they sit in their aloneness

with hope for a better world

if there is a tomorrow.

 

 

Oath To Ganapati

 

Where

a

spirit

of solemn

divinity brings

a trusted feeling  of true faith

let  diya aarti  bestows oath to Ganapati.

Let the spirit of Lord Shiva remove goblin hosts

within all your earthy precincts

your diya burning

solemn light

spirit

of

love.

 

 

 

When Caged Child Sings

 

When caged child sings, it’s not a lullaby,

It’s a song of yearning to be set free;

When the caged child sings makes you want to cry,

It’s a song just for being so hungry.

 

Where the caged child needs comfort for sleeping

There’re crowded spaces so cramped in the dark

Where the caged child is heard crying, weeping

There’re crowded spaces with no place to park.

 

Where border guards have forgotten roll call

The caged child loses close touch of parents

Where border guards roost with their denial

The caged child sings with fearful sentiments.

 

Behind this Mexican border outrage

A child will rise to speak of this hate rage.

 

 

LEONARD DABYDEEN