Like petals
Before the morning sun
My soul opens
At your touch ...

And in your kiss
I see Eden.

-

MIRACLES

In the land of the one-eyed
the blind is crown-prince ...
oh ... last check ... the blind is king.

We promise to do our best
all the tools are ready and at hand ...
we reproduce our worst.

One man's meat is another's poison
the ridiculous in other climes
is the miraculous in our times.

We are alive
through them all ...
It's the mother of all miracles.

-

WHY I DO NOT WRITE ...

The tale tells better, so much better
in the head than on the page ...

Some of the story's beauty is stabbed to death as the pen falls on the page and beauty makes me numb ...

It's war to wrestle words out of the mind;
it's the warrior who wins who is a writer
and not everyone is a warrior...

To write is a rite of denudation
I don't want to be naked ...

That's why I do not write.

-

IN MY COUNTRY
In my country
We do not bury dead horses ...
We deodorize them
And wait for wonders.

In my country
We do not bury dead horses ...
We apotheosize them
And bay for miracles.

In my country
We weave new songs on old gongs
And dance out of step.

In our land
We wait for the world ...
For the world to wait for us.

-

NOT FOR ME ...
The stars fall every time
you're not by my side.
The sun takes forever to rise
since you've gone.

Come back, not for me,
but for others ...
Come restore sight to others,
these seekers of beauty.

The stars are fallen
since you've been gone.

-

ONE WITH THE EARTH

I warn you before time,
my heart is one with the earth,
they are both red, and never dead,
if you break my heart,
new life will grow.

I warn you before time,
my heart is like the earth,
no one owns her forever.
When one landlord dies,
another is born ...

My heart is no playground
I warn you before time.

-

THE HUNTER


Unrelenting, unflinching in pursuit
he bears no weapon but love ...

He wears us down, he wears us out
till we are game
and come to rest
in his trusty bosom.

He is a hunter
this Jesus ... a loving hunter.

-

IMAGINE ...

Imagine a day without sunshine
imagine a night with no moonlight
imagine a universe of rain
without the cheer of a rainbow ...

Imagine a garden with no flowers
Imagine me without you ...
What will life be without love?

-

SWEET SISTER
(for Bose)

I have transcribed your laughter
into alphabets of joy ...
I have scored your happy smile
on a piano of love ...

Laugh, sweet sister, laugh
for in your laughter I hear
God's voice sweet and soothing

Smile, sweet sister, smile
for in your smile I feel
God's arms near and comforting.

-

You romanticize about yourself
you beckon on us to learn a lesson
or bank a blessing
from your flowery fable ...

But who writes her own biography
with ink and paper ...?

I know ...
because I have a mother ...

No, true legends are written
in sweat, in tears, and in blood ...

-