you write love songs
eyes closed, peaceful
breathing brand new days
because you
smiled

you found me in the torn creases
old newspapers and magazines
forgotten in the shadows
because you
lifted the sun and brought light

you held me, healed what was broken
pulled back heavy darkness
because you
sang

you found me in ether
held me tight
nothing is the same
because you
loved me

because you
because you
because you

~

leigh-anne fraser

I have wandered
in the very narrow fields
stepping carelessly
between the plowed rows
and wild grasses
turning to see the sun
between the guarding trees
drinking in the impossible blue

I have wandered
in the very narrow fields
singing with abandon
there, I have lost myself
weaving into tomorrow
the endless possibility
and gathering bright yellow
buttercups in one free hand

I have wandered
in the very narrow fields
tiptoeing as the sunset
and fireflies blink
in the twilight
and the fallow deer graze
easily in the shadows
I have been, I tell them
in a soft voice, wandering
they watch me with dark eyes
and dancing ears
with the faintest of smiles.

~

leigh-anne fraser

you are like a breeze
on a summer afternoon
that sends me flying
~

leigh-anne fraser

we walked in sunshine
along the reservoir
while the geese floated
and called to their children
powerlines buzzed above our heads
and I held your hand

we walked in rain and thunder
first day that we met
droplets that you kissed away
you asked me where my socks were
why didn’t I have my umbrella?
laughing I told you they
were in the car

we walked in evening
under the starry sky
I felt the world
fall away around us
until only we were left
looking up into your eyes
I smiled and then
you kissed me
~

leigh-anne fraser

in conversation
with the sea
I stood with day’s end
and listened to the waves
drowning in their song
I heard nothing else
not the soft lullaby of
the pale setting sun
not the coo of birds
hiding in coastal flowers
I heard nothing but the beating
of my own heart
until I was gone
and only the sea remained

in conversation
with my soul
I stood at the edge
of the estate
wandered in the darker lines
and abandoned buildings
breathed in the faint, heady scent
of who I used to be
I saw nothing else
but the spaces
until I was gone and only
only soul remained

in conversation
I stood with emptiness
arms thrown wide to
the night sky
under a canopy of silver
and listened
to my breath
the last one and the next
I felt nothing else
and there was nothing left
~

leigh-anne fraser

over the stone ledge
into small droplets, I fall
my heart caught mid stream
~

leigh-anne fraser

inside
your voice builds
through, upward
in stillness
I sit with you
listening
hollowed core
and the earth drums
against your limbs
through the labyrinth of
roots to heart
beating loud enough
for me to hear
and I breathe
in time
before you begin
to sing
~

leigh-anne fraser

drown me in this perfect moment
in your arms
floating in the nothing
of now
your hand reaches
and I hold on
I float
and in the over flow
find
myself

~

leigh-anne fraser

I grow in shadows
toes dipped in wet sands
and running water
protected under broad arms
trees with their ancient stories
and a song
from the deepest parts
of the horizon
told to me in the passing
of each gentle wave

I listen as the crest rolls
and touches the shore

I listen as the birds fly over
calling to each other

I listen as I come undone in the sun

I grow in shadows
they cling to me like threads
of a long dress
pulled away by the flow
exposing the skin to the air
until that me disappears

You will find me in the crevices
the cracks and broken places
where the surf falls
where shadows seep between the grains

oh my heart, you will find me there

in the last sun of the day
waiting in the light
waiting to soar
as the first stars bow
to the night

~

leigh-anne fraser

morning
I breathe you
hoar frost and ice fog
clothe the sunrise
I watch looking for myself
there in the soften outlines
of bare tree limbs
and evergreens
there in the sleeping earth
and dusting of snow
I lie in the furrows
stretched out
to close my eyes
while the day
carries on
~

leigh-anne fraser

you lift me
into the sunlight
and I see below
the outline of
butterfly shadows
~

leigh-anne fraser

the day laid out in simple form
bright like the rising sun
held by the gentlest curve
against a background of nothing
I sit and breathe
deeply
~

leigh-anne fraser