Serendipity’s Trace is a Book by Teodrose Fikre.
“This gifted author offers his insights with free verse, drawing a clear picture with his words. He draws me in with readable prose, and makes me see life in a way I hadn’t before. That’s all we can really ask from a poet, right? Well done, sir, and thank you,” wrote one reader on Amazon customer review.
borkena
November 18, 2020
Below are some excerpts from it.
Broken Water (Tsebel)
Regardless of the hardships
despite of life’s harshness
remember always one thing
we are greater than our circumstances
Even when our kindness
is paid back with callousness
Never let these moments
distract you from this truth
behind every crucible there are blessings
If only we look for them
For these crucibles represent
darkness and storms
but it’s in the darkness
lightning cracks silence
and instantly breaks water
Broken water (tsebel) is the blessing
Damage morphing into grace
As we emerge from ominous shadows
into the light of God’s presence
We are born twice through this tsebel
broken water leading to new beginnings
Once as infants out of the womb
Fluid splintering comfort
From safety into the wilderness
the second time as adults
Sadness building into a crescendo
Sorrow the new embryonic fluid
Finally water breaks again
Leading from depression into purpose
Hang tight regardless of your station
in time winter’s barrenness
gives way to spring’s harvest
The wounds will heal
and the scars will be a testimony
a remembrance that you are a champion
Brokenness leads to broken water
Tsebel leads to life’s new chapters
Dreams of Fathers and Presence
It still swirls and churns in my mind
The moment my father withdrew into silence
The minute his eyes submerged into darkness
The last conversation we had
The last tears exchanged between us
His last day on earth
The last conversation we shared
He conveyed a message
The burden he carried to heaven
As he struggled to speak
Words being muffled by discomfort
His eyes brimming with broken water
He apologized to me in sorrow
Unable to hug me
He instead embraced me with a regret
I did not fully understand it back then
Why he wept as he uttered these words
“I’m sorry, I wish I was around more”
All I could do was offer a retort
That was based in absolute sincerity
I told him what I felt in my heart
He provided the best he was able
Even if work got in the way of his presence
I don’t write these words with resentment
Rather perhaps it’s based on my own regret
For now I understand my father’s last lesson
What he learned as he was in transition
His remorse was not that he did not provide
It’s that he provided too much
Working too hard to advance
To make sure his children had enough
And never suffered for wanting
Became in itself a curse of excesses
Too much work taking away
From the time he has with us
We chase dreams trying to advance
Insisting on buying homes and having enough
But for is it worth to attain success
If it takes away from living in the presence
It was cancer that took my father away
But an equal accomplice in his early death
Were in equal parts stress, work, and no rest
Would his children have been any less
If we grew up in an apartment
Instead of a suburban townhouse
Would we have been reduced
If we had one car instead of two
Or lived in a less suitable neighborhood
What my father regretted was time
Time he sacrificed as he sacrificed for us
Time he spent in a taxi and post office
Endless toil and quantity of work
Taking away from quality time at home
Only to have his children grow up in a flash
And sickness forcing him finally to take respite
Endless time with family spent on bed rest
To all of you reading this
I beseech you to stop chasing dreams
And instead live the dream of the moment
The biggest present you can give to your children
Is the present of presence and being with them
for material gain and acquiring accumulation is negligent
As the season of giving arrives
Forget buying gifts and instead let love be the present
Driving yourselves into debt and bondage
For the sake of gifts that are worthless
Will in time lead to your own regret
But time spent with loved ones
Time invested not in money but emotion
These gifts keep on giving
So instead of stressing about providing more
Provide by just being there
Peace and remain blessed
Available on Amazon
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