The Ocean

 Ocean, you’re black; ocean, you’re blue 

You choose garments of many a hue

Ocean, you’re grey; ocean, you’re  green

Moody? Playful? Wild? Or Mean? 

Lovingly gentle, you can lap at the shores 

Or rage and storm with deafening roars

You can let mighty cruisers sail without sinking 

Or swallow them whole - in an eye’s blinking

Ocean, o ocean how soft is your touch

So silky so smooth so extravagantly plush 

Yet sharp as a knife, huge caverns you carve

And bite off big boulders - you will not starve!

Deep are your dungeons, and dark are your ways

Mysterious and awesome are your hidden pathways

Currents are your highways for migrating denizens 

Hurtling along in search of new tenements 

 

Busy are your nooks and filled are your crannies 

With mums, and dads and siblings and grannies

Of creature quite bright and of creatures quite pale

As large as a whale or as small as a snail

Treasures you hide, no one knows what lies 

In the folds of your gut, in the rise  of your tides

Abundance of life forms survive in your waters 

You are their world, you’re all that matters.

O ocean, great ocean you are the key 

To the evolution of life, to the making of me.

You source the clouds, you bring the rain

On mountains, deserts, woodlands and plains. 

Sleepy and lazy, you are almost benign 

But alert: God’s agent, with a keen watchful eye

Witnessing man’s mad and mean machinations 

You can turn in a flash, demand reparation

A reminder that all arrogance must fall

A tsunami, you rise and devour it all.

Then roll on: it’s business as usual for you

While abased and humbled, man starts life anew.

The River

 

I - an ancient river - am old and wise

On-the-go always, in the hills I rise.

My journey is long, as I tumble down hills

And into the oceans my water spills.

 

When dark clouds gather and it rains

I crawl over banks to flood my plains.

I bless all the fields with mineral-rich soil,

So you can grow grain, without any toil. 

 

Having hurried down mountains, I stop to breathe

Meandering and lazy as slow as I please.

I sprawl out and flatten, reflecting the sky

The clouds and birds as they fly in the high.

 

The fishermen throw in their nets to catch

Fish I am rich in, batch after batch.

Deep in my belly the brave divers find

Pink and white pearls of every kind.

 

I - an ancient river - I am rich

I have plenty of wealth and I like to give.

Water I give, and fresh fish to eat,

I let you ride me: boat, canoe – fleet!

 

But, you! O human, you! What have you done?

You’ve used me and trashed me, spoilt all the fun.

You have taken my joy, now I am filthy and grey,

Head low, I flow slow, with nothing to say.

Afshan Ali