Tag: african

A picture paints a thousand words
And sometimes words are not enough
For pictures go where words cannot follow
And words remain long after pictures fade

Pictures are doors to time travel
And words are windows on deep space
Together they map our world of dreaming
And bend perceptions of reality

Pictures capture what can be seen
And words release what was hidden
For pictures are creations of the light
And words are born in the womb of darkness

Pictures are freeze frames of history
And words are visions of the future
For pictures trap moments in glaciers
And words flow like rivers to the ocean

Pictures are mirrors of beauty
And words are tides of feeling
For pictures shine with colours of the sun
And words reflect the mood swings of the moon

A word spells a thousand pictures
And sometimes pictures are too few
For words weave the stories of our lifetime
And pictures are cairns along the journey

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Every tunnel has its ending
Every aperture its light
Every rainbow arch that’s bending
Shows that you can win the fight

And though the tunnel may be black
And hardship cannot be denied
Keep moving forward, never back
And you will reach the other side

And as you sojourn in the dark
You have a secret light, it’s true:
On every journey you embark
Your loved ones always ride with you

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

So what if it’s true
I sleep with my books
There’s no need for you
To give me strange looks
It’s just when I’m weary
From every day strain
I want my books near me
To massage my brain
It’s a way to unwind
And let my thoughts go
It’s relaxing I find
To let the words flow
Is that so insane?

So what if I keep
The dictionary next
To me when I sleep
So I don’t get vexed
It’s just when I’m dreaming
And wake up with words
Like bright ribbons streaming
And songs of the birds
It’s best that I check them
To see if they fit
Rather than wreck them
Before they are writ
Is that so absurd?

So what if the sheets
I have on my bed
Are blank paper sheaves
To lay down my head
It’s just when I wake up
With some swirling rhyme
Like leaves left to rake up
From star scattered time
It’s better to scribble
The words on a page
And capture its riddle
Before the spark fades
Is that such a crime?

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Threads of words across the miles
Dyed with tears and strung with smiles
Ropes of friendship woven tight
Bridge the gulf of day and night

Splashes of smiles upon the page
Brushed with youth and coloured with age
Canvass of memories and imagination
Reveal the art of co-creation

Glitter of laughter sparkling bright
Eases the dark and catches the light
Circus of clowns who entertain
Shine joy to lift the clouds of rain

Feathers of touch against the skin
Caress without and tickle within
Flutter of wings across the sky
Reminds us that we’re born to fly

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

You make impressions with canvass and paint
Weaving great stories of sunlight and shade
While I am a pilgrim with wonder and faith
Picking up pebbles of beauty and bliss

You cast silhouettes with chisel and stone
Freeing trapped figures of memoir and myth
While I am a pirate with word-sword and page
Hunting for treasures of wisdom and wit

You craft harmonies with lyric and beat
Riding vast oceans of motion and mood
While I am a healer with metre and rhyme
Tending to ailments of passion and pain

You spawn adventures with heroes and fate
Mapping new fusions of player and plot
While I am a shaman with sound-spells and dreams
Grasping at whispers of longing and love

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

It was the faces
That first made me stop
And look
And linger

Their wise wrinkles
And smiling eyes
So alive
So beautifully African

How long had I searched
For carvings such as these
That reach into my heart
And whisper to my soul?

But the gift
That I thought I had found
Was not the gift
That I left with that day

It would have been easy
To dismiss him
As just another street trader
One of life’s desperados

He had the look –
This scruffy Rastafarian
With lopsided grin –
Of the joker in the pack

But something about him
(Was it his manner?)
Drew me in closer
And made me take note

He told me his name
And oh so gently
He told me the story
Of his artist’s life

It was clear to me
That he lived only to give life
To pregnant meanings
Forever gestating in his being

He showed me his drawings
Which swirled on music
And danced with contrast
And sang in symbols

And as he decoded each sign
And unlocked each emotion
Art became transformed
Into philosophy

Even the negotiation on price
(As if aesthetics can ever be valued)
Revealed layers of sensitivity
To deeper principles

For he spoke sincerely
Of the importance of finding balance
Between giving and taking
And having and being

Under the African sun
On the city pavement that day
I felt a connection that transcended
The suit and the T-shirt

And as I said farewell
Like old friends parting
For once in my life I had the courage
To speak my truth

“The money I gave
Is merely a token of my appreciation
For these priceless expressions
Of your artistic talents”

“But more than this
You have my admiration and respect
For you have given me a much greater gift
Which is inspiration and insight”

Now whenever I look
At the wise old face
Carved in rough wood
I think of him

And I smile
And wish him every good fortune
Knowing that I am forever enriched
By the artist’s gift

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

When you’re feeling brown
Look up, not down
Don’t fret or frown
Don’t dig a hole
Don’t be a mole
There’s nothing much that’s up
When you are underground
Instead, the thing I’ve found
Is that if I build a mound
I’m already much more such more up
Than ever I was down

And if you’re feeling sad
It’s not so bad
So don’t get mad
Rather think of all the good things
Like chocolate books and magic rings
And flying without feathered wings
Or think of something really fun
Like playing in the sparkly sun
And belly laughing with someone
Or anything makes you glad
Just not what makes you sad

And if you’re feeling low
Don’t stop, just go
Go fast, not slow
Go with the flow
Or plant a seed of happy thoughts
And watch it sprout and grow
Then climb your wavy happy tree
And from the top you’ll see, you’ll see
You’ll almost touch the sky
And when you are so high, you’ll know
That you’re no longer low

So when your sky is cloudy
Be bright, not dowdy
In fact be downright rowdy
Jump and dance and scream and shout
Don’t keep it in, just let it out
And if you’re loud and clear
The sun might even hear
And come out from its hiding place
And show its warm bright shining face
And say to you a sunny “Howdy …
Look up! It’s clear not cloudy”

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Your life is strung with sacred strings
Of shining, rainbow beads
Each capturing in brilliant ray
Your shimmering thoughts and deeds

You are the weaver of great skill
But cannot craft alone
The patterns hail from hidden source
The colours are home-grown

Each glistening bead becomes a gift
Upon the trail of life
And looking back, your path is strewn
With sparkling gems of light

This masterpiece of joy and strife
This quilt without mistake
Is ever-changing, never-ending –
A meaning-filled mosaic

So hold your beads up to the sun
Let inspiration shine
And thread your dreams upon the web
Of Spirit’s grand design

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Blind looking without seeing – then a glimpse …
Deaf listening without hearing – then a sound …
Numb sensing without feeling – then a prick …
Dumb speaking without saying – then a laugh …

I see her peeking from among the clouds
Hear her softly whispering upon the breeze
Feel her gently tugging at my hair
Greet her gladly with affirming “yes”

She comes at the beckon of my indifference
Nods in empathy with my dissatisfaction
Frowns under the swirl of my confusion
Tempts me with a winked promise of rejuvenation

She has heard the mulled monotony of professional mantras chanted
Tasted the bland boredom of pedalled ideas regurgitated
Felt the tired treadmill of plodding paths travelled
Seen the smiling crack in the grey shell-trap of routine

I see you – sparkling!
I hear you – fizzing!
I feel you – bubbling!
I greet you – bursting!

You scatter new seeds
Sprinkle magic dust
Trickle liquid energy
Shower nourishing rays

You bring the gift of yeast
Fermenting with expectation
Inside the needy dough
Of my daily bread

You are welcome
My familiar friend
Back to rescue me
Just in time
From un-caring

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.