Saturday, June 22, 2013

SLEEP

My only friend is sleep.
She wipes away my tears
And deletes my memory,
Soothing the future's fears.

Nightmares try their best
But their black trauma dies
As soon as I awake
To know them as bleak lies.

Those lonely wakeful hours
Are enemies of life.
They eat away at hope
And scar me like a knife.

So let me lie asleep,
My eyes closed tight and dancing
To the music of wild dreams,
Replete with our romancing.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

REMITTANCES

It’s a thrill at first –
All is new and strange –
And everyone is friendly
But you can’t yet see the stains.

Then novelty becomes routine
And most people lose interest.
You have to make real friends –
Ones who realize the distance.

And all your resolve
Begins to break down.
It fails completely
When you see a child frown.

The voices from home
Insist that they miss you;
And you must believe it,
Yearning for them to kiss you.

Your family adjusts
To their new way of life.
They don’t say much now
To an absent mother and wife.

The local men misunderstand;
And mistake a smiling face
For something much more comely.
So they try to invade your space.

Their women suspect you –
Jealous of your youth –
And they gradually withdraw,
Becoming spiteful and aloof.

You find consolation
With the women like you –
Genuine laughter and grins –
But, alas, they are so few.

Yet the money is good;
And you hope it is worth
The sacrifice of self
And the scars of rebirth.

As the days become years
You pray that your children can see you
In the house full of your gifts
And horizons that they can now view.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

MIDWINTER

It was only a dream
But you cuddled up to me,
Your breasts against my chest
And my arm around your shoulders.

You whispered comfort.
We agreed we had missed
Each other’s lives
And being together again
Had been awkward at first;
But that had now passed.

Your eyes flickered
And your smile mesmerised
Just as they had done
Back in the day
Before the black birds
And the filthy fanatics
Embezzled the future
Of the realm of turquoise.

Your skin was smooth
And your breath was warm
As your words calmed my mind
And your lips teased my mouth.
For the first time in years
I was not a mess of meandering
Thoughts and strange imaginings
That had served as veering diversions.
Instead I revelled in your liveliness,
Pledging never ever to leave our heaven.


Sunday, June 2, 2013

NOCTURNE


Silky legato conjures night –
Not black spaces empty of light,
But the sparkling spans of spangled skies –
Brightness blinking like bewitching eyes.


As I watch your hands cross keyboards
And gifted fingers tap complex chords,
My dreams dance to other thoughts of night,
Realms we could explore in coupled flight.


The prelude ends and your face shines,
Magically composed by feminine lines;
And smiles and words engage my senses
With attendant hopes in future tenses.