I've often noticed numerous features
Many of which are on gardeners and bakers and preachers
But I have never even mentioned my own
Many peers of mine point them out to the teachers
To be silent and observe is what I am prone

I find listening and watching much more meticulous
I realise they don't understand how I stay quiet during the day
For they all speak and sound quite ridiculous
I think they may soon learn of what they say
At least I hope, I can never say for sure when they may

Deep is the pain you think to be true
The curse of past time we keep building upon as if new
We cannot escape the lives we haven’t lived
For the one we live emerges from those that did
A conscious experience is a new thing indeed
But do we share this cursed gift with a bird in a tree
If so, is life just a massive observer?
Thinking its thoughts in an expanding circle
Deep is the joy you think to be true
Just don’t let this feeling turn into a cure

Within the mind , I travel
I stop & observe
I stroll thru the unpaved streets
Like nothing will stop me
I can go there or here
It's quite a journey
I do say but what a thrill
For what I see & hear
It's quite remarkable
For my mind plays rock & roll
While , I journey thru
Seeing art & pictures strewn about
I think , I could stay
Must , I go .. return
For you see , I like it here
As , I leave , I smile
My mind though never far
Can be stubborn
For you see
Can only visit
not very frequently
Quite satisfying
So , I will return
Very soon

© Jennifer Delong 9/22/18

Paint for me , in oil,  on canvas
as I  portray
a lush meadow
a curving stalk
and at its top, refracting light
a dew drop
a rainbow of all colors

Sketch for me, with charcoal, on paper
as I detail
the corners of skyscrapers
shadowing long faces
and short names
distant relatives, familiar strangers
emptiness
as a landmark

Color for me, in water, on water
as I describe
stretched all the way
to the horizon
the scents of a clear night
and tear drops
of pure moonlight
like tadpoles in a puddle
like whales in outer space

Each one I'll take
and balance on all principle axes
bredth
height
depth
I'll sit at the origin
and 'till the end of time
observe

You spoke words of him
That i felt with no one.
The thoughts i placed
Were not mine to take.

You said his hips were close
You said your lips were there.
You said your chest met his
But your mind was elsewhere.

You spoke words of him
That leave me in wonder.
With a kind heart and soul
Why can’t you wander?

I’ m selfish to dream
Of the time his hips could be mine
Of the moment your chest heals mine
Of the day your lips meet mine

At a glance,
The Circumstance advances the feeling.
I take my stance,
With yet a glance in the other direction,

Enhanced by my retrospect,
With respect to the other.

I sit quietly in my introversion.
All while I build my newer version,
Averted to the adversions of the life I quietly observe.

Here I am.

~Robert van Lingen