Little Stories II by Jenny Ransley - HTML preview

 

Index

2. dedication

7. faeries

11. take me back

14. lovers

15. helga

16. tears

17. maia rose

18. mothers

19. africa l

22. africa ll

25. i knew you

26. the moon

27. haiku l

28. haiku ll

29. haiku lll

30. haiku llll

31. the negev is still

33. grandmothers

35. for alex

37. red dog

38. i loved you

40. the pianist

42. the milk of human kindness

44. alexnoeleneanniepatricamandahanlielourensmarkshaunamy

46. stef

48. the mountain

50. the pain of baby jesus

53. christmas song for the children

55. a bit of nonsense

57. the gull

58. be more than who you are

59. i stopped speaking

61. shooting stars

62. gallipoli l - the soldiers

64. gallipoli ll – the nurses

66. about the author

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

steps to god’s window

faeries

 

faeries

 

there really were faeries at the bottom of the garden...

i whisper in your ear as you drift off in a sleep

in and out of timeless death

and life forever after

 

you taught me that sweet poem

when i was five years old

and i recited it

believing

that

sometime

sometime soon

on a brightly starlit evening

if I crept up to the waterfall

the faeries would be dancing ‘neath a silver crested moon

 

there were faeries at the bottom of the garden

behind the marmalade lantana

in crevices

among the creepers

by the stony wall

 

and sure enough if i was still

i’d hear a little rustle

and the tiny things would creep out

little faeries

little gnomes

and they’d go about their business

milking ant cows

picking berries

carving toadstools into cosy faery homes

 

here they could have shelter from the howling winds and storms

from goblins

pikes and trolls

and ugly things

 

 

 

and they’d rescue sickly bees

and beetles who were hungry

and care for butterflies with broken wings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

near god’s window south africa

 

 

i would lie there very still

in the hope they would not see me

and i’d watch them

as they went about their day

 

and I’d slip away

when little eyes were turned towards the sunset

and i’d go back to my castle

faery lights lit up the way

 

“there were faeries...

i saw them

 it was not just that sweet poem”

i whisper to you softly as you quietly slip away

 

there were faeries at the bottom of the garden

not so very

very

far away...

 

 

take me back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

take me to the place

where once we used to swing

from a rope tied to the branches

overhead

 

take me to the river

where we played among the rocks

swam with fishes

poked at crabs

till they were dead

 

that is where we saw

reflections in the water

of children

playing a silly

children’s game

 

 

those were simple days

sweeter days

days we long and weep for

taken from us

by the people

we’ve become

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

broken hill airport lounge

 

 

 

lovers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

as we sit in autumn twilight

drinking coffee

sipping wine

we wonder how we came to be together

 

and whoever gets up first

will leave the other wishing

that this moment

would

if only

last

forever

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

helga

i miss you my friend

 

 

 

 

there is joy in weeping

and sorrow

in parting

 

i bathe in the luxury

of my tears

 

 

 

 

for without them

there would be no remembering 

recounting the days

and the years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo taken at helga and falk’s farm, eastern limpopo

 

 

 

 

 

 

tears

 

blessings bubbling out

falling down my cheeks

 

hot and sticky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

maia rose

 

in amongst the spinifex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

she could have been the perfect baby

sweet face and dimpled cheek

               but no

 

no rosy lips

 

the gaping hole inside her weary heart

engorged and bloated

fluttered

one last time

 

we held her in our arms

just one last time

 

 

no

we won’t take the baby home

this time

 

to my mothers

 

 

 

to my mothers

 

now that you

are gone

 

is there some

far off

sweeter

place than this

 

where once again

i can look

into your face

 

and put my hand

in your hand

 

once again

my mother

 

once again

your friend

 

karratha

 

 

 

 

africa           part l

 

 

i am a child of africa       

born

 

not a chocolate

dark as ebony baby

 

but pale and white as milk

coddled under lace to ward off tsetse fly and malaria

under the shade of grandfather mahogany

 

i grew fat and lazy

as white babies do

 

 

mothers under straw hats

and layers of soft white cotton

sipping crystal bombay gin

complain of troublesome servants

 

while troublesome servants

sit beside

us white babies

pretending to be deaf and stupid

gossiping and chattering

in their native tongue

 

laughing and clucking

they lift us high in the air when we bawl

comfort us

and change our soil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pumpkin bug in helga and falk’s garden

 

lazy bumble bees

droning

land heavily on exploding blossoms

which bow under the weight of them

springing back as the monstrous pollen gutses

struggle to take off on their too-small wings

 

we grew up in the shade of that great tree

climbing its branches

swinging through its leaves

which

upon hearing our secrets and watching our dreams unfurl

whispered them into the waiting breeze

 

only to be carried off 

down into the valley

 

following the shadows

 

on the wings of the hadidahs

 

 

curse those birds for flying away with my dreams...

 

 

 

 

 

            hadidahs - delta park bird sanctuary

 

 

africa                       part ll

behind the house a small spring joyfully bubbled out of a cold 

and heartless earth

over pebbles

stones

rocks

 

and

 

dancing and flirting

 

into the great MERENSKY

 

merging eventually

with the older waters of the KLEIN LETABA

 

hippo lounge

 

crocodile lurk

 

antelope come to drink

as dust settles

 

lazily

 

easily

 

 

night creeps in

 

and at that moment

the world explodes

and i gasp the silent gasp

 

wait

wait little girl

 

as you watch the dusk unfurl

 

is there nothing that warns you

whispers to you

crying out in vain

 

nothing that warns you

again and yet again?

 

 

clutching waiting shadows downwind

stalk

pounce

settle on your skin

 

worm their way through epidermal layers

into your veins

deep into your hungry pregnant belly

 

consuming you

sucking

blood

crunching

bones

 

 

vulture

hyena

wild dog and jackal

turn to the night

 

 

and howl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

vulture - moholoholo sanctuary limpopo

 

 

I knew you

 

 

i knew you yet I did not know you

 

i  knew your name

 

yet did not know your face

 

i knew you

 

yet did not know where to find you 

 

till the years

 

found us a better place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 <