During the time of our fathers, relationships were an unspoken bond and strictly hierarchic. The eldest's word was law and everyone obeyed. It was a time of joint families.
Days would start with the early rising sun and end when the kerosene lanterns were lit.
Culture and tradition ruled and duties were paramount.
It was in this environment that one's values and beliefs were forged to later on become a way of life.
The self-imposed structure was a limitation and a strength, all rolled into one.
Nothing much changed during our time.
The same values and beliefs endured; to support and hold us up at times of loss and pain, and to bind us whenever we became overwhelmed by the craving to be free and soar like birds in the blue skies above.
Within our self-ordained structure of duties we could do as we pleased.
And within these, all Bua's always had a special place....
10th Feb, 96
The Woman in White
A sense of time and a call
With a realization
It was time to go.
No one knows for certain
Yet for some the knowledge manifests itself
As a deep and poignant longing
To meet the ones you care for.
* * *
Frail, yet autocratic
Almost a queen
As she had been earlier.
She had a rigid code of conduct for herself
Yet totally flexible for the ones she loved.
Today
Dressed in sparkling white
She dances under the towering bunions.
Each sparkle a star
Shimmering in a song
Which was her very own,
Serene, quiet, insidious.
For she loved each one
With the passion of a mother.
For us now as we are
What remains
Is what she was and will remain:
Particles in time
Scattered with the loved
Each different
And yet hauntingly similar,
Treasured, honored and joyously alive
Generating a legacy
That will not die.
* * *
June 2011;
Another journey came to an end
After a travel
Of more than half a century.
Today
The dancing statues
Stand forlorn
And there is a wildness in the grass.
The dahlias droop
Shriveled in the cold winter frost.
It is said:
She is at peace now
And her time with us was over.
She is gone
Leaving deep and strong roots behind.
And we wait
For when the spring comes
The flowers in her garden will bloom
And the grass will come alive
And the birds will echo her song to the winds
Once again.
Days would start with the early rising sun and end when the kerosene lanterns were lit.
Culture and tradition ruled and duties were paramount.
It was in this environment that one's values and beliefs were forged to later on become a way of life.
The self-imposed structure was a limitation and a strength, all rolled into one.
Nothing much changed during our time.
The same values and beliefs endured; to support and hold us up at times of loss and pain, and to bind us whenever we became overwhelmed by the craving to be free and soar like birds in the blue skies above.
Within our self-ordained structure of duties we could do as we pleased.
And within these, all Bua's always had a special place....
10th Feb, 96
The Woman in White
A sense of time and a call
With a realization
It was time to go.
No one knows for certain
Yet for some the knowledge manifests itself
As a deep and poignant longing
To meet the ones you care for.
* * *
Frail, yet autocratic
Almost a queen
As she had been earlier.
She had a rigid code of conduct for herself
Yet totally flexible for the ones she loved.
Today
Dressed in sparkling white
She dances under the towering bunions.
Each sparkle a star
Shimmering in a song
Which was her very own,
Serene, quiet, insidious.
For she loved each one
With the passion of a mother.
For us now as we are
What remains
Is what she was and will remain:
Particles in time
Scattered with the loved
Each different
And yet hauntingly similar,
Treasured, honored and joyously alive
Generating a legacy
That will not die.
* * *
June 2011;
Another journey came to an end
After a travel
Of more than half a century.
TodayThe dancing statues
Stand forlorn
And there is a wildness in the grass.
The dahlias droop
Shriveled in the cold winter frost.
It is said:
She is at peace now
And her time with us was over.
She is gone
Leaving deep and strong roots behind.
And we wait
For when the spring comes
The flowers in her garden will bloom
And the grass will come alive
And the birds will echo her song to the winds
Once again.
