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Poetry Feature

A HALF DOZEN POEMS PLUS ONE MORE:

Featuring the poetry of Mr. Kenneth Maswabi



















Who cursed the night?


Ignorance is a far deeper wound than sadness In its most intense form, it's infested with disgusting malicious forms of stupidity

Throughout history, ignorance has caused so much strife in the house of humanity

It's a vicious form of selfishness and recklessness

A malady that can cause even the most beautiful soul to engage in some of the most

despicable acts

Ignorance is not just the lack of knowledge

Ignorance affects both the academically inclined and the illiterate in equal measures

It's the inability to see through the veil of illusions

An incapacitated state where the affected individual is turned into a viper that bites those who are deemed enemies

Regardless of the bright colors of their good intentions

Ignorance (not wickedness) is the cause of atrocities and genocide the world over

The sharp edge of ignorance is more dangerous than all nuclear weapons combined

More ferocious than the worst nightmare ever experienced

Ignorance is the number one enemy of humanity

It has the ability and capacity to destroy the world

It's through ignorance that brothers are turned into blood thirsty beasts and turn against each other

It's through ignorance that tribalism, racism, nationalism, terrorism and other forms of beliefs are made to fester and grow

Ignorance is the number one cause of poverty, motor vehicle accidents and gun violence

Ignorance is the source of fear, uncertainty and hopelessness

If humanity could see through the veil of ignorance

And embrace the Truth

The world would be a far better place

No one will fight over philosophies and ideas

No one will die of thirst, hunger and malnutrition

No war will be fought inside the house of humanity

Who cursed the night? No one. This is an example of an ancient culture of ignorance

Night time has always been filled with suspicion and fear

But it's a beautiful time of the day, when Silence is embraced and dreams are realized

Now, be aware of your unawareness

And you will be healed of your ignorance


© Kenneth Maswabi


 

Sadness, Sorrow and Despair


Late at night

When everyone has closed their eyes

Her eyes are wide open, unable to blink

Her mind is an open casket of the most intense sorrow

She has lost all her identities, achievements, possessions and warmth

Like a dying fire, she is surrounded by darkness

She is as cold as the tomb stones

Where her children are buried

The thought of her beloved children wrapped in a shroud of death sent excruciating pain deep into her soul

Her life story torn to pieces

It all happened when everyone was looking

All her dreams erased from the blackboard of life

Her life's spark extinguished

Her tears are left lifeless on her cheeks

Sadness, sorrow and despair have come to her home uninvited

Only the sound of her grief fills the dark night sky

The rest of the world sleeps undisturbed.


Dedicated to the many mothers who are victims of Wars.


© Kenneth Maswabi


 

The Wiseman from Africa


In many stories, you never hear of this man or woman

He is subdued and oftentimes neglected

He has no hordes of photographers to follow him

Like a burning tree, he will perish with his secrets

His seeds will be obliterated by the fire of obscurity

There is something interesting about wisdom

It never chooses a certain place or location

Its nest is already present in all of us

But there are certain conditions that need to prevail

Before the mystery of wisdom can start to lay its sacred eggs

The Wiseman from Africa is one of those poems

Where the mystery is folded in an enigma

To break it open, you don't need hands

You need spiritual eyes to see the latch on its forehead

There are no words inscribed on it though

It's the prescription of Silence that gives it away

The Wiseman from Africa has found the portal of mysteries

No other academic description can describe his new found state of awareness

It's not born out of the open canvas of the African wilderness

Or distilled from the natural African herbs

It is the most abundant phenomenon in all of the Universe

That pervades his body, mind and soul conquering every one of his senses

Silence is the key to this enigma

It has no explanation or root cause

It's not a disease or birthmark

Silence is the garment that opens every avenue of wisdom

And the Wiseman of Africa has found its nest

Usually, it builds its nest in Eastern philosophies

Or in Ancient Greek mythologies

But this time, it did not want an old sacred bowl

Or a piece of ancient wood

It settled for a common log, where it ignited its sacred fire

Like a Phoenix, it has to rise out of its own ashes

And occupy the fabric of existence

Silence, Wisdom and Africa are not usually mentioned in one template

But the dawn of enlightenment began in Africa

It is an ancient place, full of mysteries, most of them hidden under the sand dunes of the Kalahari and Sahara deserts

Some of them swallowed by the passing of time

The Wiseman from Africa is not a pure coincidence or a political masquerade

It is a taste of all things possible, a real journey of life

To all of humanity, God gives gifts, but it is the neglected gift that holds the key to mankind's spiritual awakening

Listen to the Wiseman of Africa

It's a poem about nothingness, consciousness and illumination


© Kenneth Maswabi


 

When Everyone is Asleep


I am disengaged from my limited human existence

And enter a stateless state of consciousness

A form of nothingness occupies my body, mind and soul

Incapacitating my ability to think logically

In this manner, I am a whole world of poetry

And words are the flora and fauna of my being

It's this state of madness that holds me still

To receive the most beautiful gift ever manifested, the Sacred Light

In this illuminated capacity, poetry is my companion

And my master

I obey every command and yearn for every stroke

It's this enriched state of being that makes poetry a beautiful experience

Poetry is like dreaming, it encapsulates me into a beautiful glow of light

Opening a million ways to perceive life

It is far more richer than the limited five senses of the physical world

Every sweet melody is a divine encounter

It is a dimensionless world where I can be everywhere and nowhere at the same time

It is a dreamlike state of pure bliss

When everyone is asleep

Poetry knocks at the window of my heart

And I am mesmerized by her glowing eyes

She is my full moon and I am her darkness

Together, we are the moonlit night, soothing to the soul of existence

Fused and infused into the fabric of everything

When everyone is , I am the dream, and poetry is my mysterious lover


© Kenneth Maswabi


 

Writing anything about anything


In my head, there are no alphabets

Just a bunch of neurons

Communicating in a language unknown

We might think its neurochemistry

But no one knows the real truth

The brain has no mouthpiece

To tell us it's hidden secrets

We can only imagine and re-imagine the environment inside the brain

But the world of gray and white matter is beyond our comprehension

We can only be silent servants of this mysterious organization

Let's not be deluded by the wayward thoughts

That find their way to our doorsteps

The brain is an institution of the dark arts

It does not divulge its secrets

It refuses to show us its mysterious ways

That's why one can carry a huge brain and yet remain clueless

It is not a classroom of neurobiology

It is a silent world of noisy thoughts

Stuck together inside the solid walls of the faculty of reason

It is very difficult to find common sense in this milieu of estranged neuronal synapses

This is a poem about writing anything about anything

I hope you found the gist of the story now, let me introduce you to spirituality

The body, mind and soul are capsules of existence

Use them with care

Lest you fall for their illusions and delusions

And you will forever be lost in the realm of delusions of grandeur


© Kenneth Maswabi


 

The Ocean of Silence


Like a mad river

I will keep on following your trail

Flowing through your rail

Sailing through terrifying cliffs

Squeezing through uncertain terrain

I will knock over boulders and pebbles

Carry sediments and loads of questionable stuff

And in my hurry to embrace you

I will not disrespect you

I will put down all my anguish

Detoxify myself of all the horrors of life

I will come to you in peace

I won't let the slippery slopes of life delay our union

I am a servant of the world

But most importantly, I am a disciple of Silence

I will nourish the ground on which I walk

And quench the thirstiness in the wilderness of life

But I will not be absorbed to the things of the world

I will always find my way back to you

I will never let my energies dry down

I will look for the tiniest path

That will take me closer to you

I will let Faith, Hope and Love be my guide

To stir me toward your heart

Finally, I will be swallowed by your love

All my being turned to nothingness

I will be part of your eternal light

The pulsating sensation of your unconditional Love

Totally submerged in the substance of your being


© Kenneth Maswabi

**

When Silence is Elusive


In my attempt to re-enter the sacred place

I searched for my being inside the relentless unrest of this world

I was looking for my naked soul inside the tumultuous sea of life

It was like looking for a needle in a haystack

I was drowning in the open casket of my emotional self

There was no window to breathe except to suffocate inside the confusion of my mindset

But I stood still inside the turmoil

And it was the stillness that illuminated the path

When Silence is elusive, I become a lost soul

With nowhere to go but to enter the crowded room of my emotions

Here, I am forced to participate in the squabbles of life

The hustle and bustle of life become my garment

I lose my radiant beauty and become a smog-filled field of worldly illusions

Like a ghost, I become a nonentity

All my sacred energies gone

I become a raging river of uncertainty

But there is always a way back to my true self

It is inside the stillness where I am awakened

And I am led by the voice of Silence into the vastness of my being

Where I am resuscitated and re-infused with the sacred Light

This is the journey of my soul to and fro

As I try to traverse through the landscape of experiences

I am a Spirit being having a human experience

It is easy to lose my being inside the milieu of the constructed reality

It's imperative that I don't acquire a taste for material things

It's of utmost importance that I am not attached to the world of uncertainty

I am more at home inside the unknown

The realm of mysteries is my true home

Silence is my true garment


© Kenneth Maswabi


 

Kenneth Maswabi is a former Clinical Research Physician. He studied Medicine at Melbourne University, Australia and has been practicing Medicine for 17 years now. He joined Clinical Research in 2012 and worked on multiple Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cure Research Studies. Now, he is a General Physician at Riverside Hospital, Francistown, Botswana.


His interest with poetry started as a teenager but he didn't study poetry at school. His poetry is totally inspired by Silence or Stillness of mind, body and soul. He only writes when he is in this state. The state of Silence has been with him since he was born but he learnt to harness it to create poetry. He didn't write much until around 2014 when he started writing poetry on a daily basis. His interest in poetry is mostly related to the human spirit. He considers himself as a Spirit Poet and writes mostly about the Spirituality of Love, Consciousness and Humanity.


Just recently published a poetry book titled 'Love, Consciousness and Humanity: The Shadowless Dreamer...The Illuminated Path of Silence.' This is a collection of spirit poems that are inspired by Silence.








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