THE TASTE

Contained within each grain of sand
is the taste of sea / and clouds
of rain and woodsmoke
of plains / rivers / humans
of intrepid apples and muscatel grapes
of childhood and cinnamon
of living in a mother’s heart
of going / far away
of your gaze / and mine

but the beloved pine you see
the monkey puzzle tree / in my garden
in it / I taste solitude / before the blue sky 
and those green branches that are only for me


IKEBANA

Then the silent crash / the shattered language
my words turn into ikebana / moon and white dust
my lines the birds on which I take flight
the form / the flashes / the rings of Saturn

I enter your night / awaken your rest
with this act of art / that internal power
to travel the reed beds of the mind
read your thoughts
and be a tiny quill in your dreams



ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A POEM

Once upon a time there was a poem/ long as life
It lived two realities / different landscapes / tears and laughter
 
Once walking through the streets of a city by the sea
It was a sunny day / people passed by without looking
It dressed with care / shoes / scarf / shirt / all in soft colors
It pretended to be young again / its head crowned / dark hair
Its eyes bright and tender / beautiful / kissable
Always looking toward the horizon / it understood everything
It spoke with passion about intelligent subjects / this poem