Walking Beneath the Trees

walking beneath the trees

 

the song comes in my head and 

heart twists into an empty shape

fortuitously filling a void

 

the breeze is light on touch

like your voice beside my ear

i can hear fleeting whispers and

mad raucous laughter

 

is it real that you’re in the leaves

is it real that you’re in the clouds 

oh draw me a funny rabbit or cow and

make them hop the moon tonight

 

tonight i sight jupiter and the moon

has a rainbow around it

you’re in the bits of my universe now

forever with me yet beyond touch

you’re in the bits of my reality yet i can

only sense in the lightness of a breath

(april 19, 2016) 

bread and pho

you’ll never get to taste my bread

i’ll never get to use your mixer

just think of the flour fight that might ensue

just think of the cackling of two magpies

i will name a new kind of dough after you

it will have sweetness of dried fruits 

and an over abundance of butter, more butter

we never were shy about fat, you and i

we never believed in limits to our palate

we made others envious of our cuisine

you’ll never eat my pho again

like the time at your parent’s house

we had it stinking of cooking fish sauce

but the kids devoured the food, you smiled

15 february 2015 

a scottish cemetery

in scotland this time of year;

daffodils carpet the cemetery; 

so delicate, swaying gently.

old man’s beard laden the old oaks;

i wandered beneath them on worn paths.

hard to believe i found such tranquility;

hard to accept you are to be in such a place.

incontrovertible that you have left us;

i hope you have found serenity.

it is  eventual the world will hear; i know,

our raucous laughter will sound again, together.

15 february 2015 

parked here

for ingrid

parked here, i sit wondering of you;

two weeks have passed and no word

since you said you’re calling 911.

parked here, sweet crepes and butter

were our morning delight in franz's

since days we could claim youth.

don’t let this be that kind of poem

not yet, not in this way;

so far, those memories

so far, the path still lies ahead.

parked here, i hold a glacier’s tears

millennia have passed, patience, they say

i won’t count future lives until we meet again.

don’t let this be those kinds of words;

people murmur in fear of unknowns

since days we stared at stars.

8 february 2016