(The poet never truly sleeps
writing their truth beneath the sheets)
A dream of you
leaves me feeling blue
and waking
alone
again
Aching upon
somewhere to belong
between a lover and a friend
As the time I held
your paper-like, origami shape
in my arms, without fear or qualms
You never questioned
my caress
but drew me closer to you
While the morning silence
undressed
our thoughts at the seams
Home is to sleep
Next to the milk of your bones
My soul is quietened; I am no longer alone
Sheltering in the shadow of your embrace
My fingers trace
The graceful curve of your hips
And my tongue your lips
Take me in your hands and wash me
In the juice of our love
For I know you understand
Time stretches us out
Pale and uncertain
Bathing us in a pool of memory
To cleanse the stain of yesterday’s tomorrow
And all that became hollow
She met with my future;
I met with her past
Wrapped in hopeful dreams
Now memories built to last
In the stitching of the seams
That binds us together
We walk a precious tightrope:
The time is now or never
To cross the bridges
Leading to a destiny unknown
The territory is far and wide
Yet still ours to roam
Before surrendering to sleep
Suddenly so evasive
Amidst a cold silence
That remains not comforting but abrasive
I wait to awaken in nightmares anew
Another future of formidable darkness
Where the only comfort I won and lost was you
The disconcerting yet reassuring horizon
Like open and eternal arms stretching out
To wrap around
The body of the Earth
Guiding lost sailors toward far away shores
Will I find love there? They ask
As the wind beats into their sails
A hope to capsize previous fails
Their hunger for more
Rum and whiskey blacks out the lies
Drunken and driving forward
Toward ever blurred lines
And the distant lady calling,
A siren on the horizon
You are my lady in waiting,
Waiting for a sign
Floating over this salty skin
My mind wonders in waves, crashing against the shore
Contemplating if life could ever be as it was before
As these tears soak
The skin you kissed,
Its taste the sensation
You said you had always missed
But now the gain of our greeting
Is lost in sad goodbyes
Until under another sun
We will learn to run
Arm in arm again
Until under another moon
We will learn to heal the hearts
That broke too soon
Until under another sky
We will learn much more
Than just the simple touch of rain
We will lift up life’s sorrows,
To no longer drown in its pain
Eres el sol
Que brilla en mi ventana
Con tus rayos tan fuertes
Calientas mi alma
Soy la sombra profunda
Que te sigue
Te espero con calma
Cuando me pides
Tu pecho es la fruta
Que me da la energía de amar
Tu fuerza interna
Me ayuda a respirar
Como una madre que cuida a sus hijos
Me has acogido bajo tus alas
Esperando el día
En que puedan volar
Y aún en la tormenta
Sé que mi fe en ti aumenta
Mientras te tengo por dentro
En el oscuro silencio
Donde el amor no se encuentra muy lejos
Pero seguro en el fondo de mi corazón
El sitio donde las palabras se esconden
Nos encontraremos de nuevo:
Vivas y con el verano
Brillando desde tu cara
ENGLISH:
‘Rays of Love’
You are the sun
That shines through my window
With your rays so strong
You warm my soul
I am the deep shadow
That follows you
I wait for you patiently
For whenever you need me
Your bosom is the fruit
That gives me the energy to love
Your inner strength
Helps me to breathe
Like a mother who cares for her children
You have taken me under your wings
Waiting for the day
That they can fly
And even in the storm
I know my faith in you increases
While I hold you within
The dark silence
Where love is not found far
But safe in the bottom of my heart
The place where words are hidden
We will meet again:
Alive and with the summer
Shining from your face
There you are:
Sitting, uncurled
As Curiosity feeds
Your wide brown-eyed gaze
Did I un-ruffle you?
I got lost in your maze…
Those were the days:
Watching your Spanish waves
Unfurl upon the broad
Of your shoulders
A beach of dappled skin
Stretched out before me;
Sun-kissed with freckles
By the sun’s bright rays
And my own tender-meaning lips
Softer still, and still unravelling
My love for you like a lock of your hair
Wrapped around your finger twirling
Unties and unbinds itself from ‘truth’
Instead I tied myself to you…
My body: the work of your interpretation
Translating truth into fiction
And back again
Swimming in white, splendorous mirage
Bathed a fearless beauty
With an angelic visage
Tangled up in dreams
Too distant for the eye to behold
Blanketed in sweet serenity
Far from fears
Of becoming old
And while she sleeps
Hangs a pendant around her neck
A locket full of love;
A past – perchance to forget…
Red lights like warning signs
Give way
To the unholy passage
Of my mind
Remembering how
I tried to make you mine
As the blood orange moon
Climbed in time with your swoon
And you sank into slumber
Into the depths of my heart
That plunder
Now I cry: awaken, awaken
Lusty eyelids
And drown asunder!
The frost begins to creep
In at the blinds
As you fell, soft and pliable
Into my hands
A shooting star
Falling to the bed of the Earth
Come, come into my arms
Out of harm’s way
Awaken, awaken
And you shall see day.
Buried treasure
Metres deep
Your heart is an ocean
Of secrets you keep
Away from me
Like a hand of cards;
The hand you deal
Cuts like glass
And I am the shard
Scattered and broken
In your mind
But to uncover the rainbow
You must refract the light
So hold me up to your rays
And I will make your path alter;
As long as the rupture’s welcomed
The rapture won’t falter…
Catherine Lucy Rowland 