Intimate Stranger

Loneliness visits me now and again
... stays for a while and then wanders away
Not really thinking, I take it all in
and watch for the light of the waking new day

She sits by my side or she walks 'cross the floor
or waves from outside, lest she hide in the mist
Though often she's touched me (I've wanted for more)
and crossing my lips... no, she never I've kissed

Winter

Vestiges of life
warmth fleeting, long since passed
green fades, brown passes, grey white remains

searching, seeking, morsels, twigs, anything
hovering...
looking...
hoping?

baron yet beautiful
a place to rest,
a place to recoup,
a place to leave behind...
... and continue on

(Image by Irena Morris / Eshi Otawara)

Elephant

I'll tell you a secret, but you can't tell a soul
'bout my friend, little freddie, who hides in the grass
The first time I passed him I quite almost missed him
he blends in so well, it is easy to pass.

He takes me to places I wouldn't be likely
to think of as places I want to be near
He has introduced me to many a trav'ler
and with him I haven't the slightest of fear.

I sit on his head (doesn't that just sound silly?)
but he likes it and carries my proudly like that
He shows me off happily, likes me to ride him
(it's sort of like being his favorite hat!)

I don't tell my school friends, they'd just criticize me
and push me and poke me like they always do
I don't tell my parents, they say I daydreaming
but please be my friend so that I can tell you.

(Painting by Marielle)

Dreaming

I come here quite often to sit on this hump
I travel this path that goes over the bump
The grass here is friendly, it tickles my nose
when I crawl like an earthworm with bare feet and toes

I swing when I want to, today I will sit
I might roll around this here tree for a bit
The flowers smell nice even way over here
They're magic. When I'm frightened, they take away fear

There's a bird in the tree. He's my friend, yes he is
He tells me nice stories from the friends that are his
He travels way far, sometimes traveling days
Then he comes back and paints worded picture. He says

Young Student Below (that's his name for me, see?)
Hear what I have to tell you, listen up carefully
I know you cannot travel, your legs are not strong
But I'll take you to places, carried there by my song

Then he sings and the magic fills me up head to toe
And the images come and the magic does flow
He will sit on my shoulder and I stand very tall
With my friend singing to me I can walk and not fall

So we visit these places, I see distant lands
My best friend, the bird, perching there on my hands
I can travel and visit and happily run
in the rain, in the snow, best of all: in the sun

Then its time to go home and my bird brings me back
to this hump by the bush and the well beaten track
Then I hear my mum coming, I know how she feels
She is sad as she brings me my chariot wheels

But I climb up and sit there and look at the swing
and I wonder what its like to sit there on that thing
But the bird is my friend and tells me "let it be"
Swings take you flying but my songs set you free.

(Painting by Marielle)

She waits

lonely, watching, unfulfilled
breezes play with her hair...
... she imagines his hands are there
the curtain caresses her shoulder...
... as he takes her in his arms

but, no.

the ocean beyond the window
reminds her of the pain
a ship meanders by, groaning under the load...
... was that his voice?
the sails pull taut, the vessel lurches forward...
... will he be back?

but, no

the sirens claimed another
his ship shall not return
this, she must accept

but, no.

To Irena (and Eshi, wherever she chooses to be)

The past lives in you.
The future stretches to infinity before your eyes.
Both are within you and within your reach.
Take them to heart and breathe their fresh perfume; their intoxicating musk; their life affirming scent.
Make them your own, bend them to your will and release them again for the world to behold.
You, the creator, have landed again, in yet another new place as old as the last.
A new page awaits...
a new chapter?
A new volume?
A new story?
No matter...
The world will await your steps...
Silently,
Sometimes without response,
Sometimes with quiet accolades,
Sometimes with derision,
But know that you are felt, that you are part, that you are in the weave of all that is and will be.
Welcome home...
... wherever you are and wherever you go.

2009/11/02

real me?

I try to fit in with those who criticize me
I want to believe that I'm worth being here
I create a persona, a face that helps hide me
so I can walk down the hall hiding my fear

I know that I have things to say that are meaningful
things that won't make any sense to your ears
It gets very lonely to walk in my footsteps
surrounded by chuckles and chortles and jeers

You smile when I walk in the room where you're standing
you chuckle to see me look like I belong
what right do I have to be, oh, so demanding
to hope that you will be my friend?

Did it make you feel better when I made the dumb faces
Did it make you feel bigger when I made stupid jokes
all the laughs and derision were good to erase this
the fact that you don't understand

When I spoke my true mind you refused to believe
that my words could hold meaning if you cannot see
I reinvented myself just to live and decieve
knowing full well you don't understand



It hurts less to be laughed at for making stupid faces and dumb jokes than being scorned for saying things that go over everybody's heads.
That way, people are laughing at something that you invented instead of rejecting the real you.

2009/10/04