My memory’s foggy at times - perhaps the old age
But I recall many instances of
Practice around the world.
Happy encounters on tropical islands
Sad ones of losing a young patient to gang violence
Horrified days, treating wounded soldiers.
At times, I scream. Give me back my life
Without painful remembrances.
But I can’t change what has been.

The sun rises, and the sun sets.
On a life that has been full.
In looking back, it is the smiles
And giggles of children,
Relieved faces of mothers
And satisfaction one feels of
An accomplished day that
Reminds me of all the good days
And the not so good ones too.
The nights, I slept well, and
The tossing and turning ones of
Maybe I should’ve done that or
Not should’ve the other.

It’s been a full life and
I can take solace in that over
Half a century of practice as
A Medicine Man, I always tried my
Best, and treated the ones under my care
With compassion.
My memory is not as sharp as it used to be.
But in remembering the life lived, I smile!
                                                                    Reza Ghadimi

It rained this morning
The early morning thunder awoke all, startled
An oddity in this desert world
Dawn’s early light strained through the overcast
Occasional flashes of sunlight reflected from fields of raindrops
Otherwise, there is no change
Not in the way the birds announce the day
Nor in the ennui of drops from the eaves.
 
The forest, though, seems happy
Her showered scent of freshness
Feels almost erotic
Rustle of a breeze, spray the drops off the leaves
And slide them down the branches,
Caressing stock and body, joyfully
One can almost hear the vegetation
Sigh with pleasure.
 
A light mist hides the mountain tops
The fog hugs the canyon walls sensually
Sliding within and through crevasses, cleave and folds
Deep in the loins of the earth, the moisture
Loosens rock and root to the pleasure of the land
Nature is ecstatic and euphoric.
We breathe the rhapsodic morning air and
Delight in all its glory.
It is a sensuous spring morning and all are glad to be a part!

Reza Ghadimi