I think of your poems when I'm in a crowd.
I memorize your lines and recite them out loud
into a sea of unsuspecting faces,
so that they fall in love with words, like I did yours;
strung together by the wisdom of your golden graces.

I want to bask in the glory of sharing your story,
and celebrate tonight in honor of you.
If I make your poetry a part of my life,
can I become a part of yours too?

I will tell you of their laughter and smiles.
How they wept, danced, rejoiced -
how the whole crowd went wild.

I want you to hear of their praises because I think you're divine.
I'll spend the rest of my days writing odes of thanks.
Forever indebted to you and your kind
for letting your words become mine.

How can you....


Possibly feel

The way I

Do

Now?

You've never felt

A woman's warmth

Or

Even a

A man's touch

How can you?

Sing songs of love

Watch films

Of

Beauty


And

Hate?

When have you never

Even lived the end?

How can you give

And say

Such hurtful advice

When you don't even feel

The way we do

You are blind

And deaf

To the cause

Of love

But you can't seem

To

Shut up

Shhhh...

You arrogant child

You know nothing

So its better

For you

To

Say nothing

And

Be nothing

You want to know more
about my dreams?
I had nights filled
with horrible nightmares,
flames burning my skin,
knives cutting through heart,
pit of eternal agony.
Death, screams, pain.

They are all gone.
What was the last dream I had?
I dream of you.
I dream of you
and nothing else.
It was about color of your hair,
the way your face turned red,
when you smile...

And I was there,
sitting by,
feeling the warmth
of your body,
feeling the texture
of your skin,
feeling the gentle pressure
your hand against my hand.

And I was there,
holding you,
so you will never leave again.
We can stay frozen like that,
until our dying day,
just you and me,
and the fragrance of your body.
Everlasting happiness.

But it was just a dream,
just a vision of things,
that will never be.
Just God mocking me.
This sweetness is poison,
I can't let go of it.
I need you so bad,
why did I wake up?

Two lovers meet
One day, in secrecy

Hearts warm as a pillow
of makhmal

The lover says to his love
“You are a pearl buried in the
ruins of the world
People come and go
they watch
But they cannot smell the kastoori
They laugh, eat, and joke with you
But they don’t see your heart”

The mirror slips from her hand
It falls down
She cries and with shivering hand
She says
Tear apart the wall
You’ll not need any windows anymore



makhmal: velvety leaves
kastoori: musk

Over a steaming cup of soup
over a frosty mug of ale.
Over and over
I've seen those eyes
peer and
peek
and absorb and dart
and deceive.
Over the black and white tattler.
over the child's cartoons.
I've seen those eyes twinkle
and the sides of them
crinkle and the lines
that have grown little by little
like a map of small creeks.
Over a mountain of colorful bills,
over the worn Ulysses
you've
tried
to read
for years.
I've seen your eyes wander and water,
close gently like leaves falling -
zigzag to the ground.
Bang shut fierce, like an old Italian closing the shutters.
Over certificates
and instructions
and declarations.
Over pots of soup
or stews or rice.
I've seen those eyes.
More my eyes than they are yours
as I have loved them a million times
and I have searched for them through seas of faces-
and always light a lighthouse, find them
and through those eyes
a young woman glows.
Not the tired and weary woman I am.
Behind a latte's steam
he sits
and startled he looks up at me.
"You're deep in thought",
he says.

Sahn 12/29/14

We cuddle naked
On a lonely island, in the sea,

Where our bodies press each other
On the sand, under the tree.

With sound of splashing waves,
Your arms tangle me, legs ready to heave.

Where we make love to each other,
My body under yours, we are so free.