The Walk Together
A lonesome trek down the chosen path
In time wading thru the hindered warpath
Past the winds cold, drenched in rains chilly
Drifted along, I did, in search of nowhere really
Life happens in fleeting moments by chance
But willed pledges one makes by stance
That walk in the rain, just one moment in time
Stilled the heart’s pain, in dazzling magic sublime
You held my hand, touched my heart
Basking in a warmth from beyond lifetimes
Took away my breath, by that oath invisible
So I’d never have to wonder if you’re still mine
To step away is the breezy way out fleeing
But step together was what we chose in ageing
Your hand in mine, long trek spun to a walk brisk
Many a troubled time, quelled by Love unto frisk
And when life wanes away ebbing past
Into withered bones in aches that last
Memories blurred, imagery marred
Spirits worn out, bodies withered
I’d look in your eyes, questing yet again
The sparkle that mellowed me in the rain
And I’d just know, it was no Chance, and not in vain
That I chose You, for this walk of a Lifetime’s reign…!
Written by Viraji Ogodapola
A New Friend
A new friend is page ten
of a book you know you are going to love
the second measure of a song
that always makes you dance
the first mile of a trek
through gentle forest
on a perfectly warm day.
A new friend feels like
a leaf bud unfurling
the graze of soft-tipped balsam fir
a transcendent sea-foam green
like the monarch’s chrysalis
or avocado flesh.
A new friend is proof
that we live well
amid hopeful minutia
like harvesting baby lettuce
on a cold winter day.
Written and photographed by Andrea Juillerat-Olvera