Today

Today you felt the Sun as it was new
It touched your face, it made you think
of womb related pre-birth warmth
and pleasures soon to come
as it is Spring.

But see, the Sun has set
in shivers of the sea
and soon this feeling
will be darkened by the night.
Not much on Earth is meant forever.

Our story

There is more to the story of us
than we have told each other,
than we have found back
in old family photo’s,
in our genes, in rituals
and sounds.

Hidden in dark caves and old riverbeds
some creatures live that we don’t know
and where they started their journey,
or if they fit in that of our own,
remains to be seen.
Still we think of them and call them dragons.

Nothing we know of this,
is true or false, as we can’t judge,
there is no beginning nor end
and still it’s a story.
We live in it, slowly turning the pages,
making poems about it.

It

Nobody found it so far and many of us gave up looking
but it is there. Maybe the mothers will know it before anyone else,
but it is there. Ask for it, hope for it, go for it.
Perhaps the scientist will discover it, and die with a smile on his face,
but it is there. Be in it, feel in it, stay in it.
Find it. You are the only one who knows where to look.
And I don’t know what it is either.

The arriving of the omen

I should have known the reason that trees died
in streets this man passed by, their leaves just fell
and clouds went darker, where ever he would dwell
while thunderstorms would put him in white light.

I should have known this season was alright
for him to spread on earth his sulphur smell.
While black crows flew across the old dry well,
a sudden silence came into the night.

The man had gone, now what was it he took
from our small village? No one dared to look.
I should have known: from then on, we knew freight.

That I am

We were alone, the earth and me
as I had found a place to be
alone, and that I was.
And the trees around me only whispered
to give me some peace and quiet,
hushing the birds.

The earth had much to tell me,
but the good friend that it was, it just listened
while I did the thinking.
And then it sank in
that this was all that mattered to me.
That I am.

This change

Every day the earth changes a little,
mountains move down or up, onwards,
rivers bend slowly in new directions.
Oceans take over land while deserts
expand their territories.

The noise of the seasons,
new life replacing the old,
squeakingly this planet turns,
spinning faster than ever.

And all of this is happening
while you and I stand here
watching the Sun set,
knowing it is not the Sun that sets,
but the Earth changing
little by little. Into what?

In Henrietta Street now it is noon

While colours seem a different shade
in Henrietta Street now it is noon,
as always you can hear the sea.
You’re here and not a day too soon.

Here, buy a book in Grape Lane where
the shop is piled with old and new.
The colours seem a different shade.
The swing bridge gives a golden view.

In Henrietta Street now it is noon.
A ship is entering the port,
as always you can hear the sea.
You wave to those who are on board.

The Swing Bridge gives a golden view
and gulls are sitting on a car.
This is ‘away’ for you although
you feel at home, and not that far.

Belonging is a word you find.
You’re here and not a day too soon
to find that all is still in place
in Henrietta Street now it is noon.

Yes, coming back was needed much.
Belonging is a word you find,
but soon it will be time to go
and leave this mystic place behind.

The burial

Nothing to look forward to,
all is wasted on me now:
sunbeams can’t warm me,
even crying won’t relieve me
as my tears have no fluid left,
they are stones.

So much was there
when so much meant you:
the whispering water of the stream
and the sudden rainbow there.
The smell of coffee in the morning
and the jokes you told.

All was you,
my mind was filled
with you.
I connected all beauty
with your presence.

Now I carry heavy pebbles
to where I shall bury your memory,
where it is cold and shady
and no flowers want to grow.

this one is a bit gloomy but it got stuck in my head so I better let it out 🙂

Nightmare

We were on top of the dune,
arms around each other,
watching our united shades
in the warm sand beneath,
when you suddenly let go

and I tumbled
and fell into thorny branches
aching my legs, face, arms;

falling
further away from love,
nothing to hold on to,
all ground disappeared.

Even when I landed,
there was nothing left
but the shade of the dune.

One day

One day your battles are over,
you are in peace with the world
and at ease with yourself.

When you go to bed, you can sleep.
In the morning there are no regrets
and you always find reasons to rise.

There are no skeletons hiding in the cupboards
and you don’t have to worry
about what you might have done,
said, slept with during the previous night.

On this fine day there are flowers,
friends really care what is going on
-they even answer your emails!-
and you succeed in fixing the plumbings.

Until then, stay yourself,
fight the mood and be patient.
Battles are not won in haste.