Al-Ziyara Options

[Siren]

Frangipani blossoms wreathe a legion
of winding paths
all leading to where you lie.
Their heavy, musky-sweet scent
floods the senses,
and prismatic color
warms the appearance
of your mundane home.

My footsteps squish the damp earth
as they weave their way up to you.
My hands open,
offering to your fresh haven
a bouquet of pink lilies.

Driplets form a tiny pool upon my cheek.
I hear your voice whispering softly...
floating through my heart...

My lips move in silent prayer
for your soul's protection
promising to lie beside you
when my day comes.

The air is coaxed to zephyrs
by your hand,
gently swishing around me
in a soft embrace, long forgotten.

Kneeling,
I hold some soil ...
watch it sift through my fingers.
I close my eyes,
breathe in,
breathe out,

and smile again...

I have touched you once more!



Al-Ziyara = The Visit.....

This was written exactly 3 years ago. June 4th 2002

[Guest_Toumai_*]

Dear Dani,

This is very beautiful, and deeply touching. Thanks for sharing it with us. I love frangipani: the mention takes me back to long-forgotten travels.

Hugs,

Fran

[Siren]

Dear Fran,

I think I used to be a much better poet than I am now... Thanks for the praise. :) I'm so glad this touched you. This is a recollection of my first and only visit to my father's grave in Lagos, Nigeria...

Hugs
Dani

[Guest_Nina_*]

Hi Dani

this is a very poignant poem, sadness at visiting your father's grave yet seeing the beauty and tranquility of his resting place.

Kneeling,
I hold some soil ...
watch it sift through my fingers.
I close my eyes,
breathe in,
breathe out,

and smile again...

I have touched you once more!

a very moving and emotional verse and ending.  Your love for your father and overwhelming sadness at his passing comes across so clearly

Nina

[Guest_KnightWolf_*]

This is indeed very touching, I enjoyed it very much. Frangipani blossoms are so very gorgeous, and after I had looked them up on google it enhanced the poem very much. The last lines resound within me and truly strummed a few chords.

Nick

[Siren]

Dear Nina,

I'm so glad you liked this one and that it touched you...

It's been over 19 years and the sadness is still as powerful...

Thanks hon
Dani

[Siren]

Hello Nick,

Such praise from you is an honor. Thank you so much for the swet words and I'm glad it touched you and the frangipani blossoms added to the poem.

Strumming along
Dani

[Cybele]

Hello Dani,

Your visit was truly moving. It brought to mind the resting place of my son who died 17 years ago aged 23.

But my sorrow is mingled with happy memories as I look at a picture
of him sitting in a frangipani tree with his brothers reading comics in the garden of our house in Malaya.

Your tribute will always remain fresh and beautiful, as long as you can still smell that earth.

[Guest__*]

Dear Dani,

This is very touching and a beautiful tribute to your love for your father.

As a father I would be very proud to engender this level of affection inmy brood, with one exception : While proud that they care so much for me, I would hope that they rejoice in having had the chance toknow me, rather than grieving for no longer doing so, if you see what I mean.

As to you being a better poet before, while this is very good, so is much of the work you've shown us recently. I'm actually not very good at reading other's work, or, if I can read it, struggle to penetrate the meanings.

But yours I always reach for, because as a writer (prose too) you have a very individual eye, and then a unique tongue to express the sideways-on pictures that you see.

KEEP WRITING !

Love
Alan

[Siren]

Dear Grace,

I can't imagine how hard it is to lose a child. I'm glad you shared that with me and am sorry for your loss. I think one of the reasons that there still is sorrow within me is because when he died I had no closure. My siblings and i were scattered around in different houses and my mom was in her own world, oblivious to our presence. We finally came together after 40 days of his death and by then any mention of him was forbidden. My brothers and I have been affected by his death more than our baby sister who was 8 at the time and never really knew him. Maybe one day when God rejoins us under one roof we'll be able to deal with it.

Anyway, I'm glad this brought on sweet memories.

Hugs
Dani

[Siren]

Dear Alan,

I am positive that you have a lot of adoration flowing your way from your kids. I do rejoice some of the memories, but it's when I feel the sorrow too much that I get inspired to write. A way of self-healing.

Thank you for your praise of my abilities as a writer. From you it means a lot.

Hugs
Dani