Camel – troiku – August 15, 2015

Alone and Fearless

oh that smelly ship
plodding through the desert
spitting at the sun

§§§

oh that smelly ship
bad-tempered camel plods
crossing the desert

plodding through the desert
Timbuktu – Khartoum
Tuareg caravan

spitting at the sun
the sullen camel walks on
from dawn to dusk

© G.s.k. ‘15

Written for:

Carpe Diem #796 Camels

Having met a few camels (dromedaries actually) whilst living in Africa, I’m not overly fond of the beasts, they’re often bad-tempered and always smelly, but there’s no doubt that they are hearty beasts and are very suited for desert transport … even better than some European Land Rovers at times!

The Sun – August 8, 2015

desert dawning
mighty – from the horizon
the sun

winter solstice
visiting the great temple
Ra – the sun

It’s not hard to understand why our ancients worshipped the sun, especially in a desert situation, where the land is flat.  Up comes the sun, after the long hours of darkness, with all the fearful creatures that howl in the night from jackles to lions.

 First of all, there’s a single piercing ray that makes the sands sparkle as the dark horizon seems to be converted made of gold, and then, as so often happens in the desert, the bright golden ball suddenly arises above the land in all its majestic glory! No, it’s not hard to understand why our ancients worshipped the sun.

sparkling sea
desert sands of Africa
a new day is born

© G.s.k. ‘15

Written for:

Carpe Diem #791 Karnak

Many Kinds of Deserts- Haiku and Tanka – June 18, 2015

wind off the tundra
swirling dervishes in white
under the midnight sun

lost in desert thoughts
arid wastelands in the world
and empty people
no map can find the desert
hidden in a person’s soul

© G.s.k. ‘15

Reading the haiku written today on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, I came across Haiku Plate Special‘s offering, which inspired the above haiku … of course she’s absolutely right – there are many kinds of deserts … and the Alaskan Tundra is one of them and so’s an arid human soul:

town with no bookstores
she wanders the downtown
thirsty

— There are many kinds of deserts.

Carpe Diem #757 desert

Djibouti – June 18, 2015

desert wind
the Muezzin calls the faithful
Djibouti

© G.s.k. ‘15

For:

Carpe Diem #757 desert

The Desert – June 18, 2015

Djibouti European Cemetery

desert wind
dancing through the tombstones
black dung beetle

dull yellow clouds
from over the horizon
khamsin arrives

endless horizon
thorny shrubs and yellow grass
African Sahel

© G.s.k. ‘15

For:

Carpe Diem #757 desert

Wordleing with Red Wolf! (Fun Poem) May 22, 2014

Driving through the desert
The sky showed the first signs of dawn,
Hope of sleep would have been crushed
Had we not caught sight of some trees.

The camel walked on slowly,
A living ship indeed
For from its indolent idleness
It never seemed to stir.

I put my eye up to my spyglass
And looked long through the dark hole,
I spied there an Oasis
And Tuaregs having tea!

We arrived there shortly after,
To the spring (that was more like a ditch)
A Berber raised his apple red cup
And offered us a drink.

Shivers shook me I admit,
As I saw the froathy foam
In truth there were some bugs,
I hesitated at first …

But he was a generous host,
He made a proud tight bow
Adjusted his blue head cloth
And insisted that we sit down.

I raised the cup unto my lips
And sipped the resinous liquid.
Dark stains soon were on my mouth
For the tea was dark and sweet.

Fragile was the moment
As fragile as our thin hold on life
But then exclaimed I sincerely:
‘Your tea is like the kiss of the prophet!
As sweet as a desert night!’

A man who lives in the desert
Knows truthful words at once…
Hashim became my brother,
Our friendship sealed by tea.

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Wordle #18 Red Wolf Poems

Here are the words, and bonne chance!

Bastet: eye camel living
Barbara: resinous crushed driving
Rick: sky sleep trees
Viv: idleness hope hold
Debi: shivers tight fragile
Hannah: truth knows words
Christopher: ditch kiss tea
Jules: sit cup cloth
Irene: dark hole door
Misky: apple stains thin
Yousei: stir foam dawn

Heat Shimmer … Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

heat hazed horizon
camels in the distance
Djibouti

silk road
nomads through the Gobi
artery to China

Khamsin howling
hot desert sand fills the air
blue robed Tuaregs

Arabian desert
muezzin calls the faithful
to Baytu l-‘Atīq

Written for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

I lived for many years in Northern, Central and East Africa.  I’ve experienced the Khamsin, ridden through the desert and the Sahel, seen the blue robed Tuaregs and heard the muezzin call through the day and in the evening.  The muezzin call is what comes to mind when I think of the shimmering heat of the desert, perhaps for this reason.  I never got to see the Gobi however, but one of my favorite pieces of music is by Kitaro…Silk Road.