Fourlinegraphia

  The Princess with Starry Eyes Princess, with eyes where the starlight gleams, What secret light awakens in your dreams? Deep in the quiet chambers of my heart, Your painted image never fades apart. Like moonlight resting on a silent sea, Your distant image keeps returning to me; A beautiful mystery I cannot disguise, A world of wonder hidden in your eyes. Did you stitch the veil that conceals your face, To hide from the world your tender grace? Was it woven from memories of pain, From broken trust and promises made in vain? Then let me weave you a scarf of silken light, From threads of affection, tender and bright; With love for its warp and compassion its thread, To comfort the dreams your wounded heart has shed. Not to hide your beauty from the world outside, Nor claim the heart you have chosen to hide; But simply to shelter, if love ever can, The fragile soul beneath the veil you began. For if your picture can leave me this way, Breathless and lost in its beautiful sway, What ...

  Without your presence, I am as the moon bereft of night, a silver pilgrim wandering beneath a heaven that has forgotten how to cradle the stars. *** Tell me- is this love, so profound that it has become fear, or have I made your nearness the very breath upon which my soul depends? *** As your lover, I find in you the spring within my winter, the harbour where my restless heart lays down its weary tides. When you are near, even the leaves seem gentler, and the wind carries a tenderness it does not bestow upon the lonely. *** Yet when you depart, my heart becomes a forest at twilight- every rustling branch a question, every wandering breeze a foreboding. I fear the silence after your voice, the emptiness beside me, the long and solemn hours in which your absence becomes almost tangible. *** As your mother, I love you with an ancient tenderness- the tenderness of earth toward the seed, of rain toward the parched meadow, of the dawn that watches faithfully over a sleeping world. *** ...

  I entered where the ancient corridors Held dust and dusk in equal, solemn keep; The house seemed built of centuries and stone, And every silent chamber seemed asleep. Yet by the hearth, where dying embers glowed, A little figure stood beyond the flame; She bore no terror of the grave or night, But looked upon me quietly, as if by name. Her eyes were deep as wells of vanished years, Her face as pale as moonlight on the floor; I knew not whether she was dream or shade, Nor why my heart had known her long before. I asked no question of her troubled eyes, Nor sought to learn what kept her spirit there; I sat beside the cold and ancient wall, And let the silence breathe its secret air. Then slowly came the tale she could not tell In life, but carried through the years unseen: Of greedy hands that measured blood and land, And weighed a child against a family’s gain. They spoke of lineage, inheritance, and name, Of fields that must remain within the line; And beneath such words, so grav...

  If You Let Me Love You ********* **** ***** *** I don’t want to love you only with the hunger of my hands; I want to love you like the moon loves the night- quietly, completely, never asking the darkness to leave. *** I want to know the thoughts you hide behind your smile, the little storms behind your eyes, the words that tremble on your lips but never find their way out. *** When you speak, I will listen-not just to your words, but to the silence between them, like a river listening to the rain before it carries every drop to the sea. *** When your heart feels tired, come rest it against mine. Let my arms be your shelter, like a warm window of light on a cold and lonely evening. *** I don’t promise you a life without sadness. But I promise you this- when sadness comes, I will sit beside you until it forgets how to stay. *** I want to be the hand you reach for without thinking, the voice you search for when the world becomes too loud, the quiet “I’m here” that makes your fears g...

  I turn my gaze to shadows left behind, Where faded paths through dusty memories wind; I close my eyes, and time begins to fly On wings of longing through a softer sky. No wealth was ours, yet rich in quiet grace, For love had carved a haven in that place; We wore our poverty without despair, And found abundance in the love we shared. One humble plate sustained a gathered crowd, Though life was hard, no heart grew cold or proud; A single garment crossed the passing years, Worn smooth by sweat, adorned with love and tears. Beneath the sky, upon a woven mat, We slept as children of one home and sat; No one would ask what portion belonged to whom- One heart had room enough to make us room. A mango sliced, a gooseberry, salt and spice, A little made a feast when shared was nice; A pinch of chili, laughter, hands held near- And somehow every hunger disappeared. Though hunger lingered at our humble door, What once was yours was shared with all once more; The little that we had became en...

  I am the donkey they call the People, Carrying a nation like a mule carries a load. Everyone climbs upon my back, Then wonders why I travel such a crooked road. I carry your leaders, one by one, I carry your promises, every one. You shout, “Give us our rights!” with pride, I shout for rights like a trumpet in a parade, But when duties arrive, I disappear like a shadow in the shade! “Sorry, I’m outside!”  “Give me freedom!” I proudly cry, But freedom without responsibility Is like giving a child a matchbox  and asking the house to stay dry. You tell me, “Follow the law!” I nod my head like a saint in prayer. But when the traffic light turns red, I look around- “Is the policeman there?” If the cop is watching, I behave in an angel in a courtroom. The moment he turns away, I fly like a goat escaping a wedding feast!  “Pay your taxes!” they tell me. “Yes, yes! The nation needs my share!” But when the tax bill arrives, I become  invincible  magician- my money ...