Table of Contents
In your dreams you find only
calm weather with clear night skies.
You see visions of a love among loves,
almost as if you have comet fever.
You thirst for one cool drink
from an ocean on Jupiter's moon.
But here on earth the dew runs off
the red rose, the silky petals
of the fire of desire at early dawn.
Your blood becomes the water of the Nile.
There are certain thoughts
the dead ones espouse that
are simply too obtuse for
my conscious mind to complete.
The dead ones try so hard
to be precise, "It's truly in
the foliations of the breathing
mind . . . when they intercept
the corrugated lap of death;
the fingers plied, interlocked,
a childhood church and steeple;
interwoven are the two minds
of the soul." Who can make sense
of the odd mechanics which they
are so keen to describe? Quickly
they refute, "Not make sense, but
strive to sense. The foliations:
this is where the poems come in . . .
and where the soul seeps out."
Clever words. But I appear hopeless.
You pass and heads turn,
and I remember when you only looked my way.
Eyes follow your every move,
and I recall how your eyes were only for me.
Your smile brings rings of laughter,
and I relive our intimate smiles across the table.
Others take position to shake your hand,
and I feel your gentle fingers slip over mine.
As I suddenly turn away, I hear the roar,
not from the crowd, but from the blood
rushing to fill the emptiness you have left behind.
Does the sun get tired?
Its never-ending cycle has to be exhausting.
No vacation get-aways, no personal days.
While one city looks at a sunset,
Another watches a sunrise.
It comes every day, never a suprise.
But wait....what about the clouds?
Does the sun welcome overcast days as a chance to stop smiling?
Or do the sun and the clouds battle, a constant competition, who will rule the sky?
And when the clouds take first and the rain falls,
it is a victory dance?
Or the sun's tears falling through, its chance to stop smiling?
In the rivers of life
I searched
Finding tributaries and
small places
Pools of transient calm
But the source eluded me
Though I never ceased
to search
In the rivers of life
I wandered
Exploring the world
-- the forests
Pristine and vulnerable
Listening, longing
for the sounds
Of falling waters
In the rivers of life
I thirsted
Drank and wanted
Something
Life's meaning in the
glittering droplets of
a waterfall
In the rivers of life
I found
Sweet innocence and purity
Cloaked in white water satin
And the waters were all
around me
Cascading down in torrents
of pure ecstasy
It was there at the source
of the earth
I found you
Letter to the Editor: Cherie Staples (skyearth1@aol.com).