Haiku-mix

I am really enjoying messing about with Powerpoint, making posters with past and present photos and poetry. I have another foursome. Haiku attached to photos taken by my husband Paul (the dragonfly) in the regional park and some photos I took in Bali (monkeys in a monkey forest park and an Indonesian komodo dragon), I also spotted this lizard in Kenya, when we went to Sudan and stopped in Kenya for a few days break. I posted these poems I wrote a while ago now, hope you enjoy the re-hash. I am once again experiencing lean times with my writing.

Master Planner

Another photo taken in Sudan, in a little village not far from where we were working.

Deliverance

I am using a photo taken in Patuet, South Sudan, when I went several years ago. I have this photo and several others on my ‘Building Hope in Southern Sudan’ page. I love this photograph; this fellow is a typical working man, a shepherd. The shepherds walk their goats, sheep and cattle to the White Nile River to water and graze them. This is not unusual, except that Patuet is at least a two day walk to the river. A road now runs through Patuet. The medical center come school we built has brought a lot more foot traffic to the village. There is also a trading place there now, where people can sell and trade their goods. I have written a poem to connect with this photo. I will also add another photo I love, of a goat that the chief gifted to us for going and helping out with a medical team in 2009. We found it rather difficult to explain that we could not take the goat on the plane with us back to Australia. One of the great doctors, and a great nurse are in this photo with me, taking care of the goat, before we had to give it to someone else to take care of it for us. This gift was incredibly generous, as this goat was breeding stock, and worth a lot of money to these people, who live very humbly, and need every resource they have to survive.

Promises

As followers know, I have been to South Sudan a couple of times to do some work in a lovely village called Patuet.  I took this lovely photo of a sunset, typically African.  Sadly the trip we were supposed to be going on in April this year was cancelled for agriculture work, as we couldn’t get enough funding for the project to go ahead, so hoping that next year this will be another story.  Fortunately the medical team got to go, and did a great job, as usual.  I attached this poem I wrote to the photograph I took of the beautiful sunset in Patuet.  Lovely memories….

Bare Bones

Because I haven’t had the chance to write, or post any thing for Easter, I just wrote a poem, depicting Christ’s gift to us – His life.  Praise God, for His resurrection, and the hope given to those who call upon His name.  Often I am told that my poetry comes across as rather dark – But I hope that light is seen in the vein of my writing.  This is what I ideally intend to depict; yet my life experiences have not always been, what should I say ‘Yellow’ (a colour associated with sun, warmth, happiness and fun) – Hence, this tends to weave its way into most of my work, hopefully ending in promise and joy, and bringing hope to the reader.

 

Life’s Ghosts

I have been using quite a few photos David Friend has sent to us from Zambia, to enhance my poetry.  As I have shared before, David is a missionary aide worker (doctor) in Africa, he has committed his life to aide work, and has been a wonderful friend and mentor of mine for 30 years now.  If anyone is interested in his work, or even supporting what he does, this is his charity http://friendsmedicaltrust.co.nz/

I also have David’s link on my blogroll.  I wrote this poem over several days, I hope you all enjoy it, along with the beautiful photograph David has taken.  By the way, my Maltese language vocab is growing, not an easy feat, nevertheless, GOST ! (FUN)! And,  jkollhom jum kbir (have a nice day).

Haiku: Feast or Famine

I connected this haiku I wrote to a photo that was taken on the 2009 trip we made to Patuet, in South Sudan.  I don’t know who in our team took this photo.  It could have been either Dr Ian Everitt or photographer extraordinaire, Bena Wandei.  I love the way the photograph depicts the livestock farming in the tropical wet and dry climate of South Sudan.  Temperatures are high throughout the year, with a dry season from November to March and a wet season from April to October.  The wet season arouses the earth, the country side becomes alive; yet the water and the earth are quickly dried up with the onset of the somewhat shorter dry season. South Sudan’s major water resources are the Nile (White and Blue Nile) and its tributaries, and aquifers. A large part of South Sudan is covered by wetlands at favourable times of the year.  We were in Patuet in late February, the hottest and driest time of the year.  The shepherds still herd their goats, sheep and cattle; nothing much grows this time of year, fresh fruit and vegetables are non-existent.  The well is the only local water available, the water tank dries up quickly.  The hot, dry conditions trigger seasonal human and livestock migration to more permanent water sources (the toic), which serve as dry season grazing pasture, and for some ethnic groups, such as the Dinka, they also serve as fishing grounds.  The people  living in Patuet are of the Nuer tribe, they are predominantly cattle herders.

Beled Sudani – another joyful experience courtesy of South Sudan

Beled Sudani – another joyful experience courtesy of South Sudan.

I am reblogging this wonderful video from the Iris Children’s Choir, from Junub’s Blog http://junubsudanandme.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/beled-sudani-another-joyful-experience-courtesy-of-south-sudan/

Heart warming, powerful, wonderful!

DANGEROUS EXCELLENCE

I have been busily writing poetry (contemporary and haiku), and coupling them with photographs my friend David, my husband Paul and I have taken.  I am starting with a photograph David Friend took of a beautiful dragonfly in Zambia.  I love how David captured the essence of this beautiful insect.  Prior to being in medical science (pharmaceuticals), I worked in agricultural science (entomology).  I love insects almost as much as I love reptiles and amphibians (almost neck and neck).  I find them rather difficult to capture, therefore challenging and rather entrancing when capturing a good photograph, particularly of a flying insect.  I am still practicing my insect photography, but my husband Paul and our friend David seem to do a really good job at capturing wonderful insect shots.  I wrote the poem ‘DANGEROUS EXCELLENCE’ a couple of days ago. I hope you enjoy it.

Hopeful Acrostic

Our friend David is an aid worker (doctor) in Zambia, at the Mukinge Mission Hospital.  He often sends us photographs he has taken of his friends, the people and the wildlife.  This little girl, Jessica lives in the nearby village with her parents.  She is a joyous little girl; her smile seems to dissolve any hardship or infirmity that she or her family might be facing.  Joy comes from within; with it comes HOPE; hope leads to an inner peace that transcends all understanding.  I love this photo, so I decided to write my own acrostic poem, relating it to this beautiful photograph. (Photograph by Dr David Friend)  HOPE BRINGS Happiness Optimism Peace Enlightenment