Cyril Dabydeen

Nirvana

Swimming in the pool –
           my ashram
I now call it – imagining being
           in the Ocean of Life

Enlightenment that I seek
           most of all, but my friend
smiles as he looks at the beautiful girl
           in a two-piece bathing suit
going to the other end

And he quickly goes after her,
           calling out to me, “There
she is – Nirvana I’m after!”

Sea Song

In my youth I would sit by the sea and talk of a wedding

           --Marvellous it would be
           --Underthings would fly like kites
           --I would dream of nothing else but love
           --The waves would carry us along
           --We would be loved ones always

But the sea rolled and the waves came higher
           --It became something of danger
           --It became a face that mocked
           –A thing with eyes like sprites
           --It looked back from the crest of the waves

Then I would imagine myself a dolphin
           –Ready to cry out sad songs
           --Not knowing what else to do
           --How really to quell despair
           –All I kept dreaming about

Finally I tied the knot and everything melded
           –With the sea and ocean
           –The wind and the waves became a song
           –How it was meant to be since the beginning
           –What I always longed for
           –Musk of desire really

And we held hands and walked into the sea
           – Taking the waves by surprise
           –Swallowing the surf and ocean
           --Mocking our shadows on hot sand
           –Being against the sun itself

Then nothing more was said between us
           –Nothing else seemed real
           –The waves beating stronger
           –The one voice within urging us
           --To be where we were meant to be
           –From the very beginning