days like this

on days like this
the blue sky is fragrant
with tender green leaves
cherry blossom and magnolia
shine from the garden
even the bees hum sweetness
when lovers kiss

lost

running my finger down the curved side
of the empty tea cup
a familiar cheek

on sunday morning
my mouth still tastes sweet
with dreams

autumn song

[this is completely out of season, and an old one, too]

subdued is today
October´s gold
- fall colors falling
with autumn leaves
the apple has no sweetness
when the sky is grey

untitled

[this is another old one of mine i recently found]

i lost the laughter of childhood
some time when i was three

later the sunny days were few

clouds and rain abounded
but i wasn´t so cold yet

and would sometimes remember

am i still the same person
i was when i was three

cold now even though there are sunny days

laughing sometimes although i do not really remember

sitting

in the space between two breaths
i am

spring is a maiden

spring
is a maiden
blushing
she knows

the seed
planted in her womb
no leaves to hide her joy
flowering in expectancy
her breasts

the fruits ripen
when the time comes
for milk and honey

questioning

I came across an old poem of mine today, written almost exactly 6 years ago, and decided to rework it.

questioning

what makes me
what I am
today - March, sunny, early spring
what where who
have I been
have I been at all

nothing shows
nothing shows, really, does it
a few lines on my face, maybe,
but that is just my age
where are the scars
but you won´t see me naked
and the hooks in the flesh where I failed

my eyes do not show
what they saw
but I lost my way in the dark
my hands do not tell
whom I´ve known
what I learned

Man is the sum of his sufferings
the rest is history
blind man´s buff
a blank page

winter after spring

winter is colder
after spring
and the branch barer
after flowering

the daffodils play sunshine in last year´s grass

in the morning mist
a magpie laughs at them
and the black cat

bonsai heart

clipped into a shape desired
this bonsai heart
trained meticulously
by an exacting eye
roots pruned regularly
to fit the pot
fed sparingly
the leaves stay small
but oh, the tenacity of the flowers!

evening sky

when i draw the curtains in the evening when everything becomes quiet and the children are going to bed, i look into the evening sky over the little park and the houses below. it is spring and the sky at that time is not yet saturated with the darkness of night, only a dark veil has been drawn across; it is still translucent. and there are two stars which i have never seen like this before. they are just in the centre of the sky framed by the bedroom window. well above the clear-cut branches of the trees, bare still, they shine brightly, diamonds in the vastness. they are a little distance apart. one is a little smaller than the other, which is also a bit brighter. their light does not converge, they do not know of each other. their stillness is crystal clear. sometimes, the crescent moon is there too, a waxing moon, graceful and equally still. sometimes drafts of cloud catch the silver light. whose are these stars. as a draw in a breath of peacefulness, i feel cold and reach for my cardigan.

the size of my heart

this, then, is from a yoghurt pot that asked, "did you know your heart is the size of your fist?". while i don´t doubt the factual truth of this, it seems ridiculous to compare our hearts with a fist.

the size of my heart

how can my heart
on average be
the size of my fist
as it holds
the limitless skies
and the infinite number of beings

purifying my body
with open-handed generosity
my heart sets free
the limitless skies
and the infinite number of beings
to contain safely that
which has not attained
to peace

now that the storm has died
sunshine is refracted by the crystal
in my heart