Saskatchewan River

i went by the Saskatchewan River

my new guru and an untiring comforter

this time, just to thank her

for the previous day’s lesson, my only offer

also for the quarter, much bigger

rise from the usual nickel

she gave me as i beat the trickles

of the spring rain, to explore her

further change for my soul

now hardened like a range of mountains

evolved through a long time

difficult to get rid of like the lime

deposited inside my kettle

that boils water

a generous gift

of the Saskatchewan River

henry victor     04.05.2007

a revisit

i revisited my school that made me

a man of some worth

there i went to see my old two-room

little quarter above that abandoned store

that housed me for five thick years

of life that made my mind fat

and very productive too

and as i climbed the stair

that now ended just in air

and fear engulfed my heart

that i may fall; so i stepped out

of bed and eased my self

henry victor      26.05.2007

more attention!

i saw myself this morning

in every nook and corner

excusing my daughter

for her little age

her youth

apologizing three times

‘oh, she is only a puppy’

as i encountered the senior

exercising with Woofy

a cairn terrier

very undisciplined, unruly

following other dogs

on the walking trail

pleading for more patting

considering other walkers

as her faithful master

needing

more

attention

but not mine

henry victor      15.05.2007

futility

i saw in me a comical behavior

filling water in a leaking pot

and to this i added another routine

the task of faithful locking gates

for my yard, behind and front

with fine and secure padlocks

while the entire fence

of my enclosure had crumbled down

henry victor      14.05.2007

costly play!

i do not claim to discern Him well

but i’m certain too many will yell

if, with confidence, i dared to tell

for His play this world and my kind

He did fashion placing folks like me in a stable hell

He always does bring me a copper

when i beseech Him for a dollar

part of that He also expects me to offer

in His temple as the plate is passed for offering

kicking me hard as if i’m not His toddler

i quickly run to Him for rain for my lawn

desiring in sight and in heart much green

He does give me much rain for my lawn

drowning also the earthworms, the jugular vain

maintaining my green, impoverishing my lawn

i do not claim to discern Him well

but i’m certain too many will yell

if, with confidence, i dared to tell

for His play this world and my kind

He did fashion placing folks like me in a stable hell

henry victor      05.05.2007

climbing the glass

i am like the spider

climbing the glass window

keep slipping

to the bottom

of unemployment

and poverty

making no progress

in prosperity

whatsoever;

except a poetic rhythm!

but i like the tiny creature

keep struggling

in which there is music

transforming into an energy

maintaining a movement

within my soul

carrying a dream

of becoming a new being

cherishing the dance

of the man from Nazareth

wearing the crown

of thorns

and crucified with nothing

but his loin cloth

and to be buried

by the little known Nicodemus

a dance impossible

and seldom found in a Bishop

wearing a miter, a pectoral cross

an amethyst stone, and slimy vestments

a contemporary high priest

robed in Pilate’s robe

henry victor      17.05.2007

dust to dust

i read collecting novel dreams

and additional information with breaking news

for my students in classrooms to beat

every dust in way to their becoming

greedily push my offerings

into tiny minds like huge gunny bags

assuming a smooth

and successful sailing in this world

i read collecting novel dreams

and additional information with breaking news

for men, women, and children of dust

with pretentious and pious faces in holy spaces

they sing and dance my offerings

into hardened hearts like multi-holed paper bags

assuming they now had in hand

their passport to a nether world

with neither a smooth sailing in this world

nor a hope to enter an after-world

of gods and goddesses

i with a firm conviction of my being dust

and to dust i return i now pause

to look at the present moment, soon to fly away

like dust on the surface of this world

before another present, yet another dust, is present

henry victor      07.05.2007

Note: Picture here is a photograph of my two-year-old granddaughter Josephine Victor’s artistic creation!

my walk in the wilderness

 

gurus, greatness guides, golden rules

the celestine prophecy, the secret

and the source of bubbling springs

these were my delights

while walking the wilderness

with the monk who sold his Ferrari

during my days of depression

learning soon, feeling wellness

leads to seeing wellness

transforming my bone and skin

into an untainted wellness

implanting deep within my soul

another spring of wellness

from where waves and waves of love

reaches the shores of many men

women and children in pain!

henry victor     19.05.2007

prowling always

Satan, i observed, working hard

day and night establishing influence;

he is there when warmly welcomed

or deliberately denounced!

Satan, i see, likes all forms of attention

no matter whether it comes dressed

in negativity, a sense of rejection

or in a form of positive appreciation

Satan is like that puppy

never taking my ‘no’

as my genuine answer

to leave me alone!

henry victor      16.05.2007

flooding of the Blue Nile

an emptiness clouds around

a feeling of losing battle

not just in one front

but in many fronts simultaneously

continuing coughing also causes pain

to flow like Blue Nile

from throat to other limbs

not for nourishing

but for destroying life

above all controlling

the freer expression of words

like a poem refusing the making

making me a poet unpublished

walking into the pit prematurely

i have cried many times to Heaven

above, and deep within

to release me, my little self from chain

preventing my flight into freedom

where i am no longer enslaved

by the little that thinks big

henry victor      01.06.2007

untitled

in my little boat i have left the shore

and intend not to return

until i reach the shore

far beyond that horizon

and from citizens there i learn

the art of sailing in rough seas

in my small boat

with a hole in the bottom floor

gulls did declare the regime change

in my home town

and the fishing eagles, to me did inform

my house had been consumed by fire

but i intend not to return

to bury the dead

until i reach the shore

far beyond that horizon

and from citizens there i learn

the art of rowing in rough seas

in my small boat

with a hole in the bottom floor

henry victor     18.08.2007

i blame not

 

i blame not my gods

nor do i worship

my gods with humble piety

my revolts

too have ended

but i go to the temple

to watch my gods

dancing

with those folks

dancing

i see around me

i neither dance

nor have i ceased

to dance

but i see

and my eyelids

move not

henry victor     18.08.2007

dogs barked

dogs barked a lot last night

i know they saw

which i refused to see at night

as i rolled on bed at night

i also pulled to hold tight

my blanket

my eyelids too

closing very tight

my eyes though feel not

the sleep i much desired!

at dawn, from my bed i’m out

and in hand an empty wallet

but

with eyes

now

wide open!

henry victor     18.08.2007

escapee

 

you were just a few months old

when we bought a dozen of budgies

to keep the house noisy and colorful

it was then that one of these birds

got out of our aviary

that tore my heart and caused me pain

not because of the loss of my funds

or the decrease in the sound

but the escapee knew not

to survive in the outside world

marked by too many predators

now with three months more

for you to be eighteen

and with your flight

away from my sight

the same concern surfaced in my heart

leaving me with a sleepless night

henry victor      26.09.2007

bliss in ignorance

in ignorance

and more

in ignorance of one’s own ignorance

there is a perfect bliss

the bliss of a tortoise

inside her secured, secluded shell!

in ignorance

nothing is ever complex

for all are too simple

and for all

one has a simple answer: God’s Will

surfacing from the shallow waves

on that sea of ignorance!

but drown me, O my Master

in the depth of the ocean, the confusion

that is generated

from the multitude

of the multifaceted truth

or in that drowning, that death

there is, for sure, my bliss

my own restlessness!

henry victor      21.09.2007

flowers in the wild

the flowers in the wild

turned down my invitation

to sit beside the flowers in the vase

in that grandiose palace

open merely for an hour

or, may be, a little more!

preferring cold

and a windy breeze

they flatly refuse

the flattery gossips of guests

and the wrangling

within the vase

henry victor      06.09.2007

town is empty!

death is in the home, inside

or is it out on the road

i am, right now, confused

Wednesday cannot be so quiet

that too at 8.00 A.M!

i have this ghostly feeling

being unkind to my little girl

making her walk the ghost town

she detested so much

before picking enough courage

to finally fly away from my cage!

i myself would not linger

around a cemetery for so long

if i am not an undertaker

busying with burying pain

and counseling the grieving town

henry victor     26.09.2007

quest for life

is it my determination

to kick death

or is it the resolve of the providence

to provide me life

determining my direction?

or is it the combination

when clicks well together

brings about a revolution

in my laughter that is louder

than a thunder in my heart

right now, preventing in me

either a peaceful death

or a delightful dancing in life?

but now i sit here in this mall

with neither hot nor cold spirit

to read lines on faces small

that i may scribble a sonnet

henry victor     30.01.2009

trail

i walk that old trail

with hope to beat a little

the sugar count

but more to leave another trail

my walk along the river

with a little quiver

caused by my bone

not ready to fight a beaver

i return from my stride

excited like a bride

elevated by the groom

himself driving that ride

though it was only a coin

that i added to my loin

but sure there were hugs

and a kiss from that grass crown

henry victor     18.06.2003

yearning

deep within the forest

elephants walk

the un-walked trails

deep within the forest

wild pigs work

the un-worked land

deep within the forest

eagles reach

the un-reachable heights

henry victor     18.06.2003

walk the path of Jesus

i have halted my hoping

for your encouragement

and you sustaining my work

of justice and reconciliation

and i expect not you

the patron of the patronizing

rich and the insensitive pretenders

to keep my vision alive

for i am brutally betrayed

by the same kiss of Judas, the pan handler

and cautiously rejected

by the chief priests and caesars of today

and thereafter cruelly crucified

by the sadistic fun loving masses

but will i not continue in the same path

of that crucified Jesus of Nazareth

henry victor     21.06.2003

professionalism

persons with feeling, flesh, and fluid

dark red and names making melody

too often are recreated as a digit

and dubbed into the tub named client!

efficient handling requires that;

to see numbers instead people, turning

them dependent on systems whose success

is calculated by the multiplying work platforms!

free thoughts here are not permitted

to fertilize with human sentiments of pain

or joy to name but the flag, professionalism

is hoisted to keep the maddening rat race!

henry victor     20.07.2002