Across Borders
Middle East nurtured centuries of viticulture
Egypt crushed grapes to bubbling glasses
Greeks carried it to the Black Sea and to Spain
Romans to the valleys of Rhine and Venice
Danube and Rhone, Burgundy and Bordeaux
Spreading sweetness and camaraderie.
Egypt crushed grapes to bubbling glasses
Greeks carried it to the Black Sea and to Spain
Romans to the valleys of Rhine and Venice
Danube and Rhone, Burgundy and Bordeaux
Spreading sweetness and camaraderie.
Columbus transported it to the new world
The foothills of the Andes Mountains
California cherished it in Sonoma and Napa
Divine deep purple globes with green shades
Suspended clusters, never ever single
The vines of nature canopied together.
The foothills of the Andes Mountains
California cherished it in Sonoma and Napa
Divine deep purple globes with green shades
Suspended clusters, never ever single
The vines of nature canopied together.
Heart shaped leaves receiving the sun
Keeping vines fresh, to set budding
More and more shoots, to breed fruits
Flower clusters shaping into berries
Its greenness one with the leaves
Ripening and filling with the nectar of Greek Gods.
Keeping vines fresh, to set budding
More and more shoots, to breed fruits
Flower clusters shaping into berries
Its greenness one with the leaves
Ripening and filling with the nectar of Greek Gods.
Christ toasted wine to friends and foe at Eucharist
“This is my blood” atonement for your sins
To wipe out greed, treachery and malice
Releasing the white dove of peace
To keep humanity together in uprightness
The blood He shed for mankind’s sins.
“This is my blood” atonement for your sins
To wipe out greed, treachery and malice
Releasing the white dove of peace
To keep humanity together in uprightness
The blood He shed for mankind’s sins.
Rivers meander round and round hillocks
Mountains shift in strong currents of water
Water and land flow in and into each other
Each making way for the other to find space
Yet we build human walls where there are none
Fencing in and out what belongs to none.
Mountains shift in strong currents of water
Water and land flow in and into each other
Each making way for the other to find space
Yet we build human walls where there are none
Fencing in and out what belongs to none.
The vineyards continue to spread its canopy
Crossing boundaries, traversing land and valley
Finding roots wherever it winds its way
While religion and region divide and shed
Rivers of blood and find exultation
In keeping the other at bay; they do not belong.
Crossing boundaries, traversing land and valley
Finding roots wherever it winds its way
While religion and region divide and shed
Rivers of blood and find exultation
In keeping the other at bay; they do not belong.
In the valley of Napa stand rows of grape vines
Heavy with the juice of its ripeness
Clusters jostling, waiting to be pressed
To be trampled in vats, meeting of juice and feet
Celebrating the immersion of nature in nurture,
For, after all, that is the elixir of life.
Heavy with the juice of its ripeness
Clusters jostling, waiting to be pressed
To be trampled in vats, meeting of juice and feet
Celebrating the immersion of nature in nurture,
For, after all, that is the elixir of life.
—Jameela Begum