A Whisper

She lent me her eyes
The planet bellowed deep within
I stumbled
And, briefly, could stand

Hope

Some say she went
Where it never rains
And there lingers

Some say they see her
In the glint of snow

The howl of mourning

Some wonder when
The black will fade

Bones so brittle

Some tried to cling

Engrossed in yearning
Hapless victims

For Eneze

Grip

The war, it is bitter
There's ice in your veins
The house is now empty
And just chaos reigns
And you often wonder
What there is to hold onto
If you can keep treading water
If you even want to
The tired old mattress
Which gives you no rest
You can't stop the screaming
But no truths confessed
Stop asking the questions
Don't hope for release
The truth is, the darkness
May never quite cease
Your mind will betray you
But your heart, it still beats
And you are reminded
Well, there's that, at least

For Lisa and Silvana

Respite

The room, it's in shambles

The rain drums the windows

The heartbeat is fainter

Once voices have ceased

Beleaguered by demons

Deliver their opus

Admire their handiwork

It's quite something to see

It's time for the pilgrimage

Land of your birth

Years spent in exile

Countries closed borders

Embark on the voyage

There's no way back home

Memory

What is to be done
the machine is outmoded
where do the cogs go
the spokes and the wheels
where is their home now
the factory shut down

What is to be done
it's becomes obsolete
don't hold on too tightly
don't let it go
it's best to forget it
but try to remember

What is to be done
the city is drowning
the life vests are heavy
but so are the cries

What is to be done
it's all placed in boxes
hold them in weary hands
they gather the dust

Wheel

I used to believe
in the sanctity of lines
continuous
inviolable
unending

Cars on highways
always seemed to have
delineated trajectories
yellow boundaries meant safety
and once I wondered about
the mysteries that lay
in hiking trails shrouded in foliage
relieved still to know
beginning, middle and end

The way multicolored plastic pieces
were moved in children's games
according to rules
printed on inserts
inside worn cardboard boxes

The steps of a ballet dance
we performed at a recital
choreographed and practiced
in pink candy tutus

One day a face
I had seen before
in a place that existed in memory
the lyrics of a song
whose tune played in recesses
the volume low
yet still the voice
recognizable

I felt the rain
and it was the same
morning glories
September and
the smell of books

I lay down my shield
abandon my shelter
and now
I believe in circles

Learning to Remember

Tell me how to memorize
the contours of your face
the positioning of your bones
the weight of your eyelids
the shapes of the lines that dance so freely
once in awhile I try to seize them
when you are not looking

Allow me to steal it from you
so one day when you are gone
so one day when I am gone
so one day when time has forgotten us
I can hold it in my hands
and know that you existed