Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems by Wayne Visser

I'm delighted to announce that my new book of poems is out on Kindle (download the free app to read on PC/any device). Here's the blurb ...

SEIZE THE DAY: FAVOURITE INSPIRATIONAL POEMS

This unique collection brings together inspirational poems by South African poet and writer, Wayne Visser. The anthology includes many old favourites like "Poets Must Be" and "Horrendus Camena", as well as brand new poems like "The Writer" and "Seize the Day":

Sages through the ages wisely say:

Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day!

Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst

But the day conspires to seize me first!

Buy it now for little more than the price of a cup of coffee at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seize-Day-Favourite-Inspirational-ebook/dp/B0060LLHUA/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1320266601&sr=1-4

Shine, Africa, Shine! by Wayne Visser

SHINE, AFRICA, SHINE!

By Wayne Visser

I. The Dark Continent

Africa – the dark continent:

So named by explorers

Because the candle of their knowledge

Was feeble and flickering;

Because their ignorance

Was a void of deep space.

Africa – the dark continent:

So named by conquerors

Because the torch of their mission

Was sordid and smoking;

Because their prejudice

Was a cave of grey ghouls.

Africa – the dark continent:

So named by scholars

Because the lamp of their enquiry

Was paltry and passing;

Because their theories

Were coded in white and black.

II. Enemies Of The Sun

Africa is the continent of light,

But there are enemies of the sun:

Despots who snuff out flames,

Gangsters who skulk in caverns

And traders who deal in darkness.

Africa is the continent of light,

But there are crevices of shade:

Valleys where black blood flows,

Corridors where corruption festers

And markets where slavery sells.

Africa is the continent of light,

But there is darkness, it is true:

For every beam casts its shadow,

Every sun has its eclipse

And there is no day without night.

III. The Day of Dawning

Yet Africa’s day is dawning,

So let those who talk of shadows

Bring their light to bear;

And those who proclaim darkness

Open their eyes wide.

Africa’s day is dawning,

So let those who feed the night

Find themselves cold and hungry;

And those who steal the light

Find themselves alone and imprisoned.

Africa’s day is dawning,

So let those who pedal black fear

Discover the beauty of sunrise;

And those who dwell in tunnels

Find their inner flame.

IV. The Land Of Sunshine

Africa is the land of sunshine

Where topaz skies stretch out

From here-now to forever

And each scarlet sunrise

Renews faith, hope and life.

Africa is the hearth of firelight

Where dancing flames leap up

For distant starry dreams

And glowing orange embers

Warm the hands of friendship.

Africa is the pot of rainbows

Where every pregnant storm cloud

Crackles with electricity

And each shroud of grey mist

Shimmers iridescent.

V. The Shining Continent

So shine, Africa, shine!

Nourish our shared earth

And feed our common roots;

Green our tree of life

And bear sweet fruits of peace.

Shine, Africa, shine!

Spark our imagination

And confound us with your brilliance;

Flame our deepest desires

And dazzle us with your colours.

Shine, Africa, shine!

Fire our greatest passions

And empower us with your stories;

Blaze brightly on our soul quest

And inspire us with your light.

Copyright 2011

Lagos Lives, by Wayne Visser

Written after a recent (and first) visit to Nigeria.

Lagos Lives

By Wayne Visser

Lagos lives

Seeding and sprawling

Steaming and smoking

Grasping at the shoreline

Gasping at the skyline

Clinging to its oil-slicked ropes

And singing of its toil-stripped hopes

Praise be!

To the God who sets His people free

To the fiery preacher on TV

To the Sunday throng that still believe

Praise be!

To the beggar and the banker

To the fisher and the swanker

To the struggler and the smuggler

Praise be!

Lagos breathes

Coughing and crooning

Swaggering and swooning

Shouting at the winners

Flouting all the sinners

Unleashing hope with soaring psalms

And greasing all the outstretched palms

Praise be!

To the Son who died upon the tree

To the light that makes the blind to see

To the ear that hears each prayerful plea

Praise be!

To the leaders and the bleeders

To the hackers and the slackers

To the hopers and the jokers

Praise be!

Lagos moves

Churning and chugging

Squirming and slugging

Jamming on the highways

Cramming in the byways

Convulsing to the market mob

And pulsing to the Fela throb

Praise be!

To the Ghost who lit the flame in thee

To the Word of heavenly decree

To the Three in One and One in Three

Praise be!

To the movers and the shakers

To the moguls and the fakers

To the dealers and the healers

Praise be!

Lagos lives

And breathes

And moves

To a rhythm of its own

To an ancient mystic poem

To a purpose yet unknown

Lagos moves

And breathes

And lives.

Copyright 2011

Observe The Grain

It is the women that build the men,

Playing 'mother,'

Then later tear them down as good for nothing beasts,

(Brutes) only out to bight them...

I'm in a dream where I do not know my son in a class full of laughing children,

Tiny happy faces that do not seem of sex obsessed with right hood,

Where the music makes sense and the moving pictures are cool silent.

When I used to write from the heart,

Befriend the wild words then later seize the mind and clean the spaces in between them,

Groom the silence to be resplendent where the music will take birth,

Only to remind them that they are solely men and women in that silence,

Remind them that only the music makes sense...

Since it is the men that build the women,

Playing 'father,'

Then later tear them down as good for nothing beasts,

(Coots) only out to cut them...

Wide open from the heart and then write them out in parts,

To fill the room with laughing children in a class,

The dream where I

(Will not/ cannot)?

Find my son and know him.

New book: Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems by Wayne Visser

My new poetry collection - Wishing Leaves - is out. Here's the blurb:

This unique collection brings together nature poems by South African poet and writer, Wayne Visser. The anthology includes many old favourites like "I Think I Was a Tree Once" and "A Bug's Life", as well as brand new poems like "Let Bells Ring Out" and "Wishing Leaves".

Here's an extract from Wishing Leaves, to give you a flavour:

Then as we turned our faces to the moon

Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune

We felt the fingers of the silken breeze

And made our wishes on the falling leaves

Order from the publisher, or Amazon.