How sweet is your love

That keeps me moving

Despite a tiring day

I am able to focus

And work on my endeavor

My tongue tells the story of my days

Admiring your beauty and blushing you

Praising you for all that you do to me

Which reinvigorates me and turns me into a high speed worker

While at work or at home

I remember you at all times

Because your love is precious

Like the smell of fresh roses

I pay attention to it with my focus

Thanks be to God

That I have found such a partner in you

Because you and I make the best pair

And even the earth and heaven seem to meet together

In this journey of love affair

Women celebrating Rishi Panchami at home.

A day to honor ancient sages is Rishi Panchami

Where women devote and fast

To purify their bodies and souls

Allowing themselves to free

From the sins of past and present lives

A group of women gather to worship at their home

Where the priest conducts the ritual

Placing the image of seven sages at the center

Pouring pure water and panchamrit over the image

While putting tika (red color) using sandalwood

Offering white clothes, fruits and sweets

And lighting up the incense

Wishing women to be free from sins

Fallen soilders of the Civil War. Photo taken at Gettysburg National Military Park Musuem. Sohan

Remember me when I am gone

So far away into the wilderness

That I shall not return

For another 40 years

Because I want to find solace in nature

After 40 years of slavery

That I faced in the hands of Southerners

Working in the plantation

Now that I am free, I want to enjoy my freedom

As I thank President Abraham Lincoln for Emancipation proclamation

Four years of civil war that started with war in Fort Sumter, South Carolina

And ended with war in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

A nation that was divided into Confederate and Union

Shall finally see the much-awaited reunion

For me I shall enjoy my time in the forest enjoying the nature

And river while seeing the mountains

BAPS Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, NJ Sohan

Is it the will of God that inspires me?

My heart and legs are tired from digging the field

Should my shoulders be able to bear burden to dig?

However, I feel the love for my four children

Whom I need to raise and educate

Thanks to the spirit of soul that drives me

Soon I will be home to pray with my wife

As I finish off my deeds

My body needs respite from working all day

I seem haughty and a bit witty

However, I am still the mysterious Captain Larry

Looking to move on to my next opportunity

Which will be capturing a whale

Where Jordan river meets the Dead sea

It is here I ask for thy love and blessing

As I will stay awake through the night

To catch the whale for my family

While the Lord watches me

As the rest of the world is asleep

Far off the coast we are

Yet, we are fearless and fully aware

That it could be many hours before the catch

At last, thank you to the whale

That it came laughing.

The Queen in Ottawa in 1992 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Canada and her 40th year on the throne. Photo by Ross Dunn

How sweet and lovely was the Queen Elizabeth II

That ruled the British kingdom

Who smelled like a fragrance of rose

Nations bowed down to her

For her praise and contribution to them

Although, she lived in a mansion

She had a kind heart caring needy people

Through her works and charity

Providing homeless shelter and food

She was the longest serving monarch in Britain

As she was served by fifteen Prime Ministers

From Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher to Boris Johnson

Although she never went to school

She learned constitutional history, law and French through private tutor

As she married her third cousin Prince Philip

Where she used ration coupon to save up

After the second world war

To buy the material for her wedding dress