Sadness Captured

Fear Foretold

Melancholy pervades
News from home
Uneasy
Acceptance of visions foretelling
A worried heart
Captured fear and dread
Constantly suppressing the urge to fret
Cautiously
These visions close kept
Distance
Could not
Premonitions suppress
Sad, sad, sad news
Calls for renewed
Attention to prayer

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-14

Death Unexpected
The least expected family
Affected
Death
Like a thief in the night
Ripped
A beloved son away
Siblings
With sadness
Remain

The stronger family
Affected
Crushed
The uninvited guest
Himself at home made
Leaving an empty space
Vacant shoes
Unopened books
Suddenly
Settled in a higher place
Meeting our maker
A reality we all face

The well prepared family
Affected
Nothing will ever be the same
August 13th
On the calendar remains
Like memories
Collected in a chain
Bound by blood
Children will always
In the hearts of parents
This status retain

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-14

Ill Prepared

Unqualified
I always want to be
In the task of burying
The daughter
Borne of me

Unqualified
I want to remain
In the skill of feeling no grief
Death close
Should always affect me

Unqualified
I will gladly be
In mourning without tears
Sobs should shatter my soul
Living through this process -- makes me whole

By Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-14

Hope

Joy
The organist
Conjures
Music composed foreign
A language
Captured
Universal
Craftsmanship
Cherished
Without such beauty
Humanity could perish

Warmth
The congregation
Radiates
Silent communion
Locked in thought
Life in high and low tones
Extort
Our inner likeness
A gift from God
Peace and tranquility
With busy-ness traded
Spirituality
Beyond four walls
Transcended

By Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-14. Thank you to the Bälinge Kyrka and Gunnar Englund for the Barock Organ concert.

A Sad Refrain

Twenty four hours ago I contemplated the content of this blog -- what to say at the end of a busy day? This and that, nothing concrete or even complete. Easily I slip into a pond of self pity, some intellectual situation replete. Now, almost twenty four hours later… I write with a sad exhortation. Another young one has sung his last refrain. The rest of us will have to cherish his memory as fewer of us will also gradually remain.

The full moon
Looks at me
In patches below
Mist casts a shadow
Like this ache
I can’t explain
One loss
Less meaning
Only immediate
Pain

The full moon
All revealed
Flashbacks
Casts a brightening spell
Others could
Possibly have fallen
One loss
More meaning
Their lives remain

A full moon
Raw emotions borne
A reluctant falling star
Caste a glimmer of hope
How on earth can we cope
An angels’ work never complete
Each night we have to sleep
One loss
Greater meaning
Every waking day calls for a renewed belief

By Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe for Augustine Noemdoe -- Born 1990-08-13 , Died 2011-08-13. You gave us all of you and we appreciated your love and gentle nature.

Daily Musings

Thinking…

Vibrant red geraniums
Welcomes me
Their fragrance
Gives a sense of place
Home sweet and safe

Bright the light of a falling star
My wish your happiness
Daughter afar
Your life worth more to me
Than the embers of a terrestrial being

Yellow and green leaves compete
Collecting the last of the summer sun free
Soon the darkness will descend
Appreciating the full moon
All the hope it brings

Constant the search within
What gifts to this earth
I bring
Writing lines of words amongst other things
Does what I do define my being?

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-12

Contemplation

Summer’s bounty
Excites me
Apples crisp and fresh
Potatoes multiplied by ten
Another day
Gone again
Closer and closer
Winter creeps
Its arrival
I cannot be told
Exactly when

Winter’s bounty
Rouses me
Snow crisp and white
Icicles crystal clear
A full moon
Capturing midnight fears
Snowball fights
Lingering
Mock cheer
Every moment
It creeps nearer and nearer
Another day fixed
Towards the end of another year

By Simone Beartrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-11

Do not mistake me
Do not mistake me
A writer I’m not
Just an author
Attempting to capture
A light plot
Language
One gift
I accidentally got

Do not mistake me
A gardener I’m not
Just a potato harvester
Attempting to capture
Earth’s bounty
One watering can at a time
Growing cabbages for the slugs
The occasional carrot crunchy
Mud under my fingernails
A clue about whence I hail

Do not mistake me
A cook I’m not
Just a keeper of flavour and tastes
Attempting to capture
Love and meaning
That satisfied feeling
Shared with family and friends
Experimenting
Will never come to an end
Africa and Asia
My special blend
Sweet and sour often
Best companions in the end

By Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-11

Spirited

Colours captured in perfect craftsmanship
Cathedral stained glass windows
Opens my mind
Arrest my desire to nurture beauty
Daily worship
More love than duty

Love captured in faultless mastery
Souls nurtured in communion
Every angle of the light fosters transformation
Belief systems
Bonds more than nations
Freedom of choice means this will be always be
One of my favourite places



Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2+11-08-10

Simple Abundance

I dare to celebrate
Simple abundance
Enjoying
The value of great care
Distribute more than
Small change to spare
Offer fundamental love to share
Dare to live every breath
Wake up a precious gift
Laying hatchets to rest
Bury pain in a victory chest
Communion
A gift blessed
Sometimes
Money can be
Separated from the rest

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-09

Refuge
A sewing room
Can be my refuge
Cutting squires
Building blocks
Counting rows
Easily
Obliterate mistakes
Patch ideas
Review craft news
Wear things
I created with cheer
Frustrated seems
Torn apart
Bright colours
Capture in my heart

A kitchen
Can be my refuge
Chopping fruit and veg
Baking cakes
Counting minutes
Easily
Obliterate mistakes
New configurations
Stew
Congregate
Guests around a simple feast
Scrub stubborn bottoms
Firing
Herbs and spices
Life more flavoured
Special memories
Savoured

By Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-09

A Woman’s Pride
I am proud to be a woman
Mother
Partner
Nurturer
Laughing
Living
Crying
Caring

I am proud to be a woman
Leader
Worker
Follower
Agitator
Protester
Defender
Poor pretender

Am proud to be a woman
Soul sister
Conscientious
Unpretentious
Down to earth
Sometimes loud
Occasionally shy
...
Being a man
I will never
Give a try

By Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-09

Women Celebrated

August 9th is National Women's Day in South Africa. This, National Women's Month, will be marked by many activities to celebrate women. Grandmothers, Mothers, daughters, granddaughters. All celebrated. There will be national events, local activities punctuated with seminars, papers, concerts, tea parties and many more activities. For me, and many more it is a bittersweet celebration. Despite the battles, pain, losses and all the gains, women are vulnerable in their homes and communities. We are still considered as property... slaves and .... At the same time I want to celebrate all our victories! I want to celebrate all the good women who are making major sacrifices to make a difference for all the women following.

Women’s Freedom – Keeping Score
Seventeen
Winters’ of freedom
Celebrated
Another
National Women’s Day
Commemorated
More women in high places
Poverty
Still
Spilling from the usual
Spaces

Seventeen
Spring’s of freedom
Observed
Another
Sixteen Days of Activism
Pending
More women victims in hazardous alleys
Insecurity
Still
Lurking inside supposedly
Safe places

Seventeen
Summer’s of freedom
Anticipated
More girl mothers
Expecting
Fewer fair job opportunities going
Volatility
Still
Courting escalating
Inequality

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-08

Pain
Thousand’s still have to shit in plastic bags
Others sell the bodies for bread and shelter
Our freedom
Was supposed to wipe away the hardship
National Women’s’ Day we have earned
Bread and butter battles less recognized
Our victories by too many unsolved rape cases
Overshadowed
Freedom on paper
Still to be translated to total emancipation

Celebration
I celebrate
National Women’s Day
On behalf of every girl child
All young women
Intelligent
Kind
Caring
Diligent
Every fallen Shero
Your sacrifice
Made me free
Let us Reclaim
Our country
Our legacy!

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-08