What did you teach me, tropical rain?
Hide-and-seek of love and pain,
fresh perfume of soap tree flowers,
sheltered by wind-caressed
red bridal veil.
And you, shredded tropical night?
With dark mangroves hidden from sight,
endless passion - the only light,
threatened by thunders wasting sparks:
lessons of what it should be,
of how good it is to flee,
far away from you, from me,
from all we could still see,
and be, just be.
Sorrow, the two of us
remember as little of those sights
as the lost teachings of paradise.
And yet, you tried, tropical night,
Only you tried.
Remains
Suffering is so dear to you–
Faithful to it beyond pain.
Who are those who look like people to you,
undistorted by the dark glass you watch
the world through?
Day and night make one single endless day,
Month and year are one and the same.
You extend time at your own will
and mark it with pain . . . deep pain.
Burning pyre, your life, flames devour it,
though ashes retain thought, word, spirit.
Smooth desire, take it down to the bottom
where icy waves exchange ashes stolen
from the shore, where your blue being
keeps on burning, charring.
What have you done to us?
Already behind me, your Sodom's in flames,
Sparks from above erase my only trace
left in front of your torment: love still
looks back at you, hurting, but dormant.
What I Actually Do
If I see your face in the deserted flames
of forgotten fires at the feet of humble wood
it is not the remembrance I embrace,
maybe I should,
it is not the the dance of fire,
purifying and good,
that I admire,
it is not the warmth, lost heat,
and not the pulse, the heartbeat
that I feel, beyond the misty view,
it is not that I invoke, or call,
but it's the ashes, the devouring flame,
it is the pieces, the fall that I tame,
not to ease, wild memories to smooth,
it is the long-forgotten peace
of the deep, humble woods,
it's memories I group and displace.
Party on Quicksand
Yes, I've come into the open
tearing myself free
from the hardening creepers
closing in all around me.
It's party time with you,
creatures of maze,
reduced to shade!
I'll mark a center to this
gathering, by a sharp blade.
I'll stand within that
tiny circle,
you can use the rest of space,
dance, turn, swing, giggle,
just keep out of my way.
If you feel the deep dragging you in,
do not call me, I'll be serene,
can't wait to lose you again,
all over, throughout the land,
that's why, dearest, I've called
this party on quicksand!
