—Poems and Photos by Ann Christine Tabaka, Hockessin, DE
KENYA
The dream becomes real
before my eyes.
Golden sunrise,
blazing vermillion sunsets,
lush green savannahs.
I have witnessed all.
Great Rift Valley,
Cradle of Mankind,
prehistoric memories
reverberate throughout.
At Lake Nakuru,
a thousand diamonds dance
as flamingos march the shoreline
of shallow water.
Breathless rush of wings
rising from the marshes.
Leopards crouch in wait,
while mischievous baboons
and monkeys tease from above.
Crowded villages filled
with friendly smiling faces,
and the laughter of children
playing ancient games.
Amazing sights, creatures,
landscapes and people,
catalogued forever in my mind.
A journey of the heart fulfilled.
The dream becomes real
before my eyes.
(first pub. in Atunis Poetry, September 2018)
___________________
NO TURNING BACK
Parting rivers.
Parting ways.
The truth laid bare
at my feet.
Deep dark secrets hide
within converging storms.
A cadence of emotions
marching by.
My words are not your words.
We speak in different tongues.
It is as if you know the answer
before the question is posed.
You know me so well
yet not at all.
Fragments of life
falling into oblivion.
Forlorn and forgotten,
forsaken and lost.
Death closes the door
that love once opened.
Parting ways,
there is no turning back.
Time does not allow
such luxuries as that.
(first pub. in Ariel Chart, June 2018)
________________
UNRAVELING RHYME
The rhyming and the not,
as if I had forgot
my words of many years,
embedded in my tears.
Days of youth have passed.
The die has long been cast.
Pieces of my life
still wading through pained strife.
Time has come and gone.
I waited far too long.
My words have all grown stale,
now lost beyond the pale.
A fire that once burned
has long ago been spurned.
My passions, all I gave,
lie cold beyond the grave.
(first pub. in Indiana Voice Journal, July 2018)
—Drawing by Ann Christine Tabaka
LIFE RENDERING
Pencil to paper,
an image forms.
Delicate curves,
sharp lines,
soft shading.
The eye knows what it sees,
the hand follows suit.
Through all ages
artists pour out their hearts
in crisp lines and muted tones.
Telling stories,
immortalizing faces,
capturing love and beauty.
Roundness of a shoulder,
gleam in an eye,
hair flowing in the breeze.
Rustling leaves on autumn trees,
bilious clouds above,
sensuous landscapes,
breathtaking rise of a mountainside.
Still life and models,
all brought into being
by the stroke of charcoal,
graphite, or brush,
as the artist breathes life
into all he touches.
Music without sound.
Poetry without words.
Visual magic.
Life as art.
Art as life.
(first pub. by Synchronized Chaos, October 2018)
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
―Friedrich Nietzsche
____________________
Our thanks to Ann Christine Tabaka for her fine poems and artwork today. Chris, as she goes by, was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry, has been internationally published, and has won poetry awards from numerous publications. Her most recent credits are: Pomona Valley Review, Page & Spine, West Texas Literary Review, The Hungry Chimera, Sheila-Na-Gig, Synchronized Chaos, Pangolin Review, Trigger Fish Critical Review, Foliate Oak Review, Better Than Starbucks!, Mused, The Write Launch, The Stray Branch, The McKinley Review, and Fourth & Sycamore; her books may be found at www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-Tabaka/e/B06XF2PWSK%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share/. Chris lives with her husband and three cats in Delaware, and she loves gardening and cooking.
About today’s photos, Chris says, “The two photographs that I included are of a conte pencil drawing that I did, and a photo from a safari in Kenya that I took with my adult son in June of this year.” Welcome to the Kitchen, Chris, and don’t be a stranger!
—Medusa
Ann Christine Tabaka
Celebrate poetry—and poets!
Celebrate poetry—and poets!
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