WOUNDED WORDS FROM A FORGOTTEN LAND

Wounded Words From A Forgotten Land

I was born in Bamyan

I was born in Kabul

I was born in Panjshir

I was born everywhere…

You don’t know me

But I know who you are.

You’re the one who came to kill me

And you will kill me

With all your evil skills

Just because I am who I am

Just because I dare to look

Into the abyss of your devil soulless eyes.

You may think that you killed me before

And you did, thousands of times

You may think you killed me forever

But you didn’t and you won’t.

You just shot the reflection of your evil mind.

My innocence, my strength and my hope

Will go on to haunt you and defeat you.

While I sit and sing

(I know you forbade me to do it

And that’s one more reason to do it)

I look at the clouds and touch the ground

Always for the first and the last time.

I can hear the roar coming

I know you are just around the corner.

Before you take me and rape me

You’ll kill all my family and all my sheep.

Yet, I don’t move

I sing, I wait, I persist.  

As you pass through the hidden valleys and plains

Through the ancient gorges and the peaceful mountains

All there is loses its natural joy and innocence.

My childhood escapes to the distance

My youth vanishes as I breathe

My old age is a useless wise ragged book

1400 years is the age of my fears and my pain

You’re the inventor and executioner

Of all my nightmares.

The only paradise that you’ll meet

Is the hell you have created

Since you were born.

No 72 virgins to rape

No honey and berries to taste

No glory or reward for your inhuman deeds.

Only emptiness, evil and death

Only you, alone, with yourself

And your endless darkness.

What I see

Is not what is before me anymore.

With your creed and your gun

With your blindness and cruelty

You shut my eyes to all there is.

Yet, here I am

I sing, I wait, I persist…  

In your eyes I see only

The nothing you will be…

São Ludovino, 17/10/2021

Wounded Words From A Forgotten Land, poem & video by São Ludovino

SOUL SHAPES

LIGHT DANCE

Night falls as a new day within the day

In soft steps unfolds and spreads,

A new universe within the universe.

The mystery and the journey follow their course.

And the voice from the deep

Flows in the sparkling surface

Of your endless moving body.

As the trees keep emerging and growing

From each sparkle of light, air and water

Blooming a million stars in all seasons.

My eyes hear the songs

My ears see the dancing chords

My hands touch the red petals

Of the eternal heart.

My lips drink the prodigal cup of beauty

And my soul breathes each drop of time

Embracing the infinite gifts of life.

"Shall we dance? Shall we flow?

Shall we be the truth of ourselves?"

The flowing light asks gently

In the twinkling night.

Undeniable the dance begins

As the voice sounds crystal and pure

And the blood becomes light

And the soul becomes movement.

Oceans and tides from all over

Bath tenderly my flying feet

While the falling leaves merge and solve

In the water sparkling flowers.

Our thoughts bow to the night

Tireless dancer, caressing the sky

With her long arms and silky hair

She invites the trees to join and dance.

And the trees dance and flow and smile

Because we are the trees of dawn

Growing in the bosom of the night.

And the voice from the deep

Repeats and repeats:

"I'm the rising sun in your nights

I'm the path of light in your days

I'm the trees in your garden

I'm the lighthouse in your souls

So, dance, dance within me until the end of Time!"

"We'll dance, while the light keeps dancing

Within the sky, the stars, the clouds

The oceans, the trees, the birds

My soul and your soul".

We answer and dance within the flowing light.

  

São Ludovino, 23/9/2017

 Breathing with the Soul, drawing by São Ludovino.

LIGHT DANCE, photography & poem by São Ludovino

 Leaning on the Moon, drawing by São Ludovino.

Made of birds I, drawing by São Ludovino.

Made of transparency, drawing by São Ludovino.

The Journey Itself III, drawing by São Ludovino.

Carrying the mountains, drawing by São Ludovino.

Solving mountains, drawing by São Ludovino.

Oasis, drawing by São Ludovino.

Birdboat I, drawing by São Ludovino.

Tree of Wisdom, drawing by São Ludovino.

The Essence of Light I, drawing by São Ludovino.

Becoming the Tree, drawing by São Ludovino.

Natural source, drawing by São Ludovino.

Tireless Gardener, drawing by São Ludovino.

Light Feet, drawing by São Ludovino.

Made of birds II, drawing by São Ludovino.

Waterbirds, drawing by São Ludovino.

Moonboat sailing II, drawing by São Ludovino.

Moonboat sailing I, drawing by São Ludovino.

Tr(u)ee Heart, drawing by São Ludovino.

Moon Allegory, drawing by São Ludovino.

BEFORE YOUR EYES

ALL NAMES

Along the forest
A thousand trees border the road
Some new, some old
Some unknown, some recognizable
To each and all I gave a name
From each and all I collected
Leaves, flowers, fruits, seasons
From each I learned what cannot be taught
With each I shared my presence and time
All unfading and forever strong
They remain there
In the ground where they were born
While the roots feed in my earthly soul
The seeds spread with the winds of my mind
Germinate in the reality of my dedicated hands

Only one moves
The wandering tree that knows
All the corners and paths of the forest
First it was only the soft sound
Of gentle steps behind me
Then a twin shadow on the ground,
On the grass, on the water
On the sky’s smiling face
Rainbow wanderers, we danced with the clouds
The sun, the moon, the traveling birds

The moving tree holds my hand
Walks by my side
The same rhythm, the same easy pace
The same childish spontaneous steps
And when fatigue weakens our muscles
I raise my glass of light and love
And we drink and shine and grow and salute
The same endless thirst we were born with

To the walking tree with no name
I gave all the names there are
And all the names are your name
The companion tree is made
Of the same atoms and fibers of my soul
Inseparable we follow the way
Our way
The same way
Endless way

By the sea we sit on a sculpted rock
All the waves stop for a moment
Allowing the water to reveal who we are
We stare at the surface in even amazement
Two trees, a thousand arms
In a magical dance the branches embrace each other
Fly close to the water, rise like gentle giants
Until they touch the sky and reach the infinite
Then the waves return, in soft cadenced movements
And we feel within the twin trees returning
To their eternal home
Becoming again you and me…

São Ludovino, 23/12/2015

Before my eyes I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Infinite sky I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Bridges of Life I, photography by São Ludovino.

Bridges of Life II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Bridges of Life III, photography by São Ludovino.

Bridges of Life IV, photography by São Ludovino.

Bridges of Life VI, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Bridges of Life VII, photography by São Ludovino.

 Bridges of Life IX, photography by São Ludovino.

 Bridges of Life X, photography by São Ludovino.

Bridges of Life XII, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Bridges of Life XIII, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun I, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun II, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun III, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun V, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun VI, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun VII, photography by São Ludovino.

 In the Winter Sun VIII, photography by São Ludovino.

In the Winter Sun IX, photography by São Ludovino. 

Over the bridge I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Over the bridge II, photography by São Ludovino.

  In the Winter Sun IV, photography by São Ludovino.

 Arch I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Life within life VII, photography by São Ludovino.

  Life within life VIII, photography by São Ludovino.

 New sweet anise growing I, photography by São Ludovino.

 New sweet anise growing II, photography by São Ludovino.

 New sweet anise growing III, photography by São Ludovino.

 Painted ground I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Winter fruits I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Winter fruits II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Winter fruits III, photography by São Ludovino.

 Winter new life I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Winter work I, photography by São Ludovino.

Winter work II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Year after year I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Every Winter, photography by São Ludovino.

 Winter child I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Born to be wild I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Walking companion I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Walking companion II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Walking companion III, photography by São Ludovino.

 Walking companion IV, photography by São Ludovino.

 All Names III, photography by São Ludovino.

 Wandering Tree II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Wandering Tree III, photography by São Ludovino.

 December sky I, photography by São Ludovino.

 December sky II, photography by São Ludovino.

 December sky III, photography by São Ludovino.

December sky IV, photography by São Ludovino.

Moon rising I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 December night sky, photography by São Ludovino.

 Funambulist I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Funambulist II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Moon rising II, photography by São Ludovino.

Moon rising IV, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Moon rising VI, photography by São Ludovino. 

December fireplace, photography by São Ludovino.