THE ALCHEMIST
THE ALCHEMIST
I feel like an alchemist
In a brutal sultan’s hideaway
Not turning water to wine
Or metals to gold
But sadness to joy
Fear to hope.
Create not a fantasy
But a reality of optimism
Vision of harmony
As gentle rain, fragrant breeze
Oceans teaming with time
Deep rooted, enduring and firm.
Dancers under olive trees
Branches emanating melody
Evocative, suggestive, and declaring
To cheer away the misery
Free the freed and
Liberate that which is not.
Reza Ghadimi
MEMORIAL DAY
MEMORIAL DAY
5/26/2025
The following is an excerpt of the page on Memorial Day, from my book: Practicing From the Heart in the Age of Technology. Perhaps we should make this, a day to remember the victims of broken societies as well.
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Memorial Day is when we remember those who gave their lives to defend our country. It is noteworthy that a year after the end of the Civil War, in April 1866, four women of Columbus, Mississippi gathered together to decorate the graves of the Confederate soldiers buried in their town. They also felt moved to honor the Union soldiers buried there and to note the grief of their families by decorating their graves as well. The story of their gesture of humanity and reconciliation is now told and retold in Mississippi as being the occasion of the original Memorial Day.
Another heart-warming Memorial Day story is that of the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel in the mountains north of Angel Fire, New Mexico.
Following the death of their son, U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Victor David Westphall III, Jeanne and Dr. Victor Westphall decided to build a memorial in his honor and the fifteen men that died with him near Con Thien, South Vietnam on May 22, 1968, and the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel in Angel Fire, New Mexico was erected. The Chapel was dedicated on May 22, 1971, the 3rd anniversary of the death of their son. It was the first major memorial created to honor the veterans of the Vietnam War and inspired the establishment of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which was completed ten years later in 1982.
In circa 1982, a group of veterans and motorcycle enthusiasts made a pilgrimage to the site to honor their fallen comrades and to visit the one of a kind memorial. Somehow the word got out in that era of no internet and many more made the trip the next year and every year since, so that last year's (2024) Memorial Day event attracted ~40,000 to Angel Fire, New Mexico.
We salute all veterans everywhere who honor us with their devotion, patriotism and sacrifice.
Reza Ghadimi (USAF 1967-1971 Veteran)
SPRING TEASE
Spring,
she is a teaser!
With her tormenting winds, she plays with man and nature alike.
Showing a cleavage of summer and uplifted windblown skirt, she
excites and arouses the world with fantasies of
pleasure of the months yet to come.
Winter hangs on to her flowing skirt as she flirts with the sun and sky.
Every peek of the sun brings a warmth to the coldness of plant and animal alike.
And with every rise in temperature, blades of grass peek through the
snow and buds open on the trees as they dance back and forth
to the tempo of the wind.
After every use, I clean the fire stove in anticipation of the coming
warm days only having to run back into the forest in search of scraps
of wood to make one more fire, and watch her giggle and tease by
blowing snowflakes into my face.
It is May and there is ice on the pond. The lilacs spread their aroma through
the snow, and apple blossoms shiver and smile with every blow of the wind.
I too, play hide and seek with my winter and summer clothes as I wait
for her to stop her teasing games, and in anticipation of the coming
summer, I open the windows a tad more.
Reza Ghadimi
THE SUMMER AFTER MED SCHOOL
I head out west
Needing to get far away from
Smugness of NY and its people.
My VW bus packed with
Everything I owned
And mostly didn’t need
I drove on, till I crossed the border
Into Colorado. The WELCOME TO …
Sign felt especially heartwarming.
Boulder was as I remembered
Quaint and comforting
I rented an apartment on Walnut St.
On the way back from dinner that first night
I bought some books
Back in the room, the books looked menacing
As the walls closed in
Reminding me of toil of the past months
Reading, memorizing, testing
Over and over again.
A crack of thunder over the Rockies
Called my attention.
As I watched the sunlight fade
And the shadow of the mountains
Fall over me, I realized why I was there.
I dug through boxes and extracted
What camping gear I still had.
The next day, I spent shopping for what I didn’t.
Morning next, geo maps in hand
I head for the Continental Divide.
The first night under the starry skies
Overwhelmed by the surrounding nature
I lay awake till Cygnus flew behind the
Western hills and call of an owl and rustle
Of a marmot finally put me to sleep.
Most of that summer, I spent
Hiking the trails from Mount Blanca
To Arapaho Forest, as I recharged
The wild desert in me.
The cold winds of fall arrive early
In the Rockies and I had a stack
Of job offers to consider.
Reluctantly, I left the rivers and
Mountain critters to consider the future
The West has been home ever since.
School years are but a memory now
Though writing this note takes me back
Regretting not the gone times
But wondering how I survived
Living with those who know this not.
Reza Ghadimi
OF BODY AND SOUL
When I was a little boy
I had a globe for a toy
I wanted to fly to the moon
Cross the scary and dangerous wood.
As a teenager I wanted the world
Climb the mountains, for I was bold
Sailed the oceans till I discovered
Mysterious Islands, with magical things to uncover.
As a young man I was a patriot
Cared for country, flag and compatriots
Protect the motherland and fight
For the freedom that I was taught.
Later when I had my kids
Their protection was what I cherished
I taught them all that I knew
Bought them everything anew.
As a medicine man, I cared for all
Never mind color, tongue or national
I even went to mountains too
Jungle, war, and Sahara to cure.
Now in my olden days
Thinking back to my Gone Days
I am content to have done some good
Writing about it brightens my mood.
For life is too short to think too hard
On politics, views, or issues too brutal.
I want to enjoy the birds and the bees
Flowers, ocean, simple meals and a beer.
I will pray to gods and powers to be
To give our leaders some sanity.
IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?
Reza Ghadimi