Here Comes Treble: Songs Of Oranjemund
In these five poems musician and writer Isabel Bradley reflects on Oranjemund, a desert-girt town in Namibia.
Oranjemund
Desert town –
Oasis,
Green life brimming over.
Water jit-jit-jetting,
brings life to trees
that bend
to meet the breeze.
Gemsbok graze in park and garden,
Sharp horns meekly bent to ground,
or gaze with brown-dark eyes,
at multi-coloured, two-legged beasts
who roam the streets,
and bright and shining mammals
with round feet,
that roar and trail a nasty smell.
And, looking down
crows crowd,
they creak and croak
and float
on dustery, blustery
cold-chilled
desert-heated
Wind.
Song of the Wind
This is the song of the wind:
It whistles and whines,
Battering builidings,
Pounding pavements,
Whirling tall trees in a merry dance…
Cold and bullying,
Straight from the south,
It cuts through clothing
And drags its misty clouds across the sky
Like rags,
From the sea.
Dirt and litter swirl and skein,
Rustling like restless rodents,
While crows caw at its strength,
Sailing and plaining their black and white way,
And gulls yelp and whirl,
While little birds,
Blown like leaves,
Call and cry and echo across the town.
A Baby’s Grave
Tiny mound of desert sand;
Tiny cross in barren land:
One day old – can’t understand
Grief-mirage that hangs,
Above this grave
In arid earth,
Near ice-cold sea.
Tiny mound of desert sand;
Tiny cross in barren land:
We left you there,
No loving hand
To bring you flowers;
No memories,
Except the hours
Of your fragile life…
Tiny mound of desert sand;
Tiny cross in barren land…
Song of the Morning
Written to Introduce
Edward Elgar’s Chanson de la Matin
Otherside the cosy curtains,
Suspended in gelatine sky bluer and deeper than any sea,
A sickle moon hangs silver,
It’s star twinkling below…
The sun peeks
through palm-tree fronds,
And rises, cool and calm.
Birds wake one by one,
Burbling –
“hallo, pretty – hallo, pretty!”
They call and sing,
They croak and shout –
Great song of joy!
Time of hope and action,
Let’s up and do,
Let’s do our best,
And give our best,
And love and live –
And love to live!
As the birds sing, so should we:
“It’s morning – beautiful, joyful morning!”
Song of the Night
A poem composed to introduce
Edward Elgar’s “Chanson de la Nuit”
Sunset.
Translucent jacaranda-blossom sky,
Fading,
As the moon rides high
And a last wind blusters through the trees,
Blowing the stars away…
All is still;
Fine mist hangs
In gardens, and parks and fields.
Shadow-shapes float
Above roof-corner and lamp post –
Eagle owl calls out,
“Who? … Who?”
And ghostly gemsbok graze and gaze.
Peace reigns outdoors.
And in?
Warmth and joy and
Pull-up-the-covers and cuddle close:
All is safe my Love.
All is safe this night.
