The hour of soon-be-night

How quickly withers a vivacious flower,

its petals strewn over the ground beneath

that weaves them into one enormous wreath

of things-that-were. How swiftly does the hour

of dawn give way to that of soon-be-night

that might lose recollection of the day

that passed before it, or forever stay

trapped in a single moment…or it might

turn out to be as gentle as the wind

that lifts the fallen petals, takes them far

away, over the rainbow, round the bend —

where things-that-were are swinging on a star.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

In search of pastures green

A case for "cultural appropriation." 

Maksim Troshin, obviously not a Romani, sings Sare Patria:

Our grasslands wither and we travel forth

in search of pastures green. Our wagons full,

the wanderers, the nomads of this Earth,

we roam, submitting to the constant pull

of yet another place, another chance,
a greener valley…When sometimes we spy
what looks like home — we light bonfires and dance,

and sing old songs beneath the dusking sky.


Actress Svetlana Toma (not a Romani) as Rada:

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

A Case for Chirping

If all birds were songbirds, how dull,

 how quiet life would be:

24/7 nightingales,

 maddening tranquility!

We’d find ourselves yearning for that

 noisy mismatched chorale

that echoes our own tune so well,

 makes our existence real.

A seagull’s cry, a peacock’s shriek, 

the cackling of a crow —

we’d want them back where they belong, 

we’d miss their voices so.

Thus if celestial melodies 

fill up your soul today

but all you can produce is chirp!

 — then smile, and chirp away!

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Image credit: Pixabay