Elements

I sing no song that water does not hear
I tell no joke that wind does not get
I cry no pain that fire does not burn with
And there is not an inch of this earth that is not home

Seasons

Sadness and death
Come easily
I do not have to run after them

The joy and tenderness of spring
And the hope of seasons reborn
Come just as easily

Sitting here, on a chair
Just a few minutes pass by--
My, what a life!

Shy

I am so sorry
That I turned away from your eyes
I did not pick all the apples there
I did not think they could be for me

Kindness

What do you find
When you are kind?
A sweet spilling of mercy

Is the world good?
Is the world bad?
When was the last time you looked at the sky?

Please slow down
It might hurt--
Light a candle
In the dark room of your pain

Please slow down
Feel yourself
Taste the soup
Smell the flowers
Look at your friend's face
Touch her hand
Touch your own,
If you're alone

Above all,
Please be kind to yourself
If you can't,
Please think about kindness
If you can't
Just say the word
Kindness

Power Outage

The power had been out for at least a day
Absence of electricity
Left us with ourselves
To talk with our hands
To laugh with our words
To understand with our teeth
To see with our skin
To smile with our eyes
To share simple meal
With candle

This was the dignity and goodness of humans
A colourful tale, handwoven
A game made from scratch
A home-grown story

Then the power came back on
And the silence forgot itself
And lost itself again in the numb buzzing sound
Of our lives pretending to be real

Innocence

Innocence
As if you had never started living or dying at all
Just an innocent dream
Where all of us are
Unborn

Oops

This amazing life!
This very curious life!
I feel so innocent
I feel so young, blushing
Knowing so little--
Sensing so much

This world is full of not knowing
Tricks, jokes, laughter
Turnarounds
Tender pimples, simple rain
Deep sadness
The last fragrance of summer slips away
Sudden fear, deep as the night
Fear that makes me start over right at the beginning
Revealing my complete cowardliness
My complete scaredy-catness

I am so shy
I am so right at the beginning
I am so fresh, so raw, so rugged, and good, and so forth
Do you see what I mean?
I was going to write the perfect ending to this poem
But I forgot it

Miscellaneous Haiku

Complete freeze of inspiration
What does one do?
Blow a kiss!

I'm always here in the moment
She leaves
Gone when she wakes up to me

I cannot stand anyone!
I cannot sit anyone!
I cannot lie down anyone!

I've no place to live
No place to leave
I forget how to love

Did you come visit in my dream?
Just for some chit-chat
And the Heimlich maneuver

You say devotion
I say devotion too
The ocean nods

Mint tea
Hot like Newfoundland
Fresh like an emerald lake!

Wind on the ocean like a vast field of wheat
I used to make the reverse analogy
At the farm

Wind in the bushes
Branches are waving goodbye
To another summer

Guess what?
I have nothing else to do
But grow too old for myself

If

If I could tell you the moon
If I could show you the wind
If I could sing the soft night in words

If I could take you in my silence

The Poets of Freedom

I am a Poetess of Freedom.
This is just a morning like another,
Yet this is the Morning of Mornings.
Eating toast is so elegant when you're free,
Like the queen of a lonely island,
Reigning over rocks and feathers.

Today, and forever, there is nothing to perfect.
There is nothing to fix
Because nothing was ever broken.
I will go along, rowing my boat,
Whistling a tune that's lost in the wind.
Or wandering in the long prairie grass,
Listening to their hushing song,
Stillness within every step.

If you have nothing to run away from,
How can you ever be trapped?
Thus they gently walk this world,
The Poets of Freedom.

Where

No money

Where is peace?

I don't know

But settle your roots in a little deeper

And gather yourself

No friends

Where is love?

I don't know

But go deep into your loneliness until you laugh,

Until you own it

No pride

Where is victory?

I don't know

But let die what can die

What remains is the key

No good looks

Where is beauty?

I don't know

But even when your shack is ruined

You could plant some flowers

You're not a hopeless case, so stop being silly.

But don't be a hopeful case, that's even sillier.

No money

No friends

No pride

No good looks

No problem.

Where is your life going?

I don't know

But let it unravel

Like a question mark

True Beauty

Beauty does not hurry

Does not leave,

Beauty does not stay

When I run after poems,

They only run away

I open my chest to the wind

I forget the words,

Leaving my heart to flutter

in the breeze of an empty plain