LEONARD DABYDEEN

LEONARD DABYDEEN

Three Musketeers

Grandchildren gaming

eyes sharp as swords

vigilante Athos

powerful Porthos

cautious Aramis

sabre-like prancing, in the back-yard

grandpa watch with visionary eyes

smoking his cigarette

coffee-cup gripped firmly in his hand

can’t let go of his drink

this old grump

watching, eyes squinting

as children dart swiftly

around bamboo shed

tumbling idle pieces of dead wood

[tall trees are innocent of their dead]

they holler at each other

echoing coherently

one for all

all for one

the three Musketeers

grandiose joy in freedom

grandpa sniggering, watching

grandchildren growing up.

Rise Up After The Fall

In the sly hands of the Devil

a blind man does not walk with a cane

he is led to the slaughter

like in a quake

with tremors more alluring

than magical witchcraft

scavengers feast on his inner soul

corruption smudges his mind

and guilt knows no shame

he leaves a smudge of blood

on every door

on every house

on every community

every dream a nightmare of hoodoo

horror whiplash every disaster

no shame no shame

sometimes we become witness

to this blind man in each of us

or innocent if we do not know

how we do what we do when we do

all things created for us

in the end

Almighty God finds a way

as it was in the beginning

to look for us with hands and hearts

from every passage of hope

beyond borders beyond oceans

through the carnage of rubbles

and concertina of destruction

as voices echo in prayerful song

acts of God are showered in the depths

of our mournful hearts

in faith is our strength

in hope is our destiny

in love is our unity

in patience is our virtue

in understanding is our honesty

in togetherness is our resort

to rise up after the fall.

Behind Every Difficulty

Behind every difficulty

Look deeply for a solution

Never think it will be easy.

Sometimes it appears so tricky

To be worthy satisfaction

Behind every difficulty.

Sometimes you try best as can be

Rolling over resolution

Never think it will be easy.

Sometimes you take the task lightly

Without a priori caution

Behind every difficulty.

Sometimes you show little worry

About making a decision

Never think it will be easy.

Sometimes there’s animosity

Which makes assorted division

Behind every difficulty

Never think it will be easy.

LEONARD DABYDEEN

LEONARD DABYDEEN, Guyanese-Canadian poet and member of The Society of Classical Poets (USA); Life Member of MetVerse Muse (India); member of Muse India Journal; member of Muse-Pie Press (Shot Glass Journal and Fib Review), contributor to Gandhi Way Newsletter (UK), https://english.pratilipi.com/leonard-dabydeen/, SETU bilingual literary journal (USA); OUR POETRY ARCHIVE monthly journal; my blog:  https://ldabydeen.wordpress.com/. Free-lance writer and book reviewer; author of Watching You, A Collection of Tetractys Poems (2012), and Searching For You, A Collection of Tetractys and Fibonacci Poems (2015).