lei fraser

little sparrow take this pause
a breath to sustain you

to lift your wing above me
to the sky to the sun and back again

little sparrow
i can’t know you now
in your frantic search
along the ground

this food eludes you… again and again
though you keep searching ..

little sparrow rest
the moment waits for you
to mend

the day is not long to ending
and i am here to hold you
reassure you
and let you go
once more

someone must pray
in the morning light
as the day begins again

not only those
whose lives are near
closing some curtain
not only furtive thieves
desperately trying to steal back

some favor
some time
some moment
some lost thing
some future fortune
some second chance
some life

not only the wise
and compassionate
whose life spills over itself
and in quiet moments can see
the pain and suffering of
those near to them
and not so near

there must be that moment –
that moment of recognition
in our day

one moment however brief
of knowing deeply that
right now is everything
and nothing

in that moment of knowing
when the heart speaks more loudly
than the wind and rising sun
when someone prays
and it lifts us beyond ourselves
for someone
for ourselves
we can be grateful
that someone
must pray

~

sunlight reflected
in the shadows of another concrete building
closed windows
tinted so no one can see inward
though there i am sitting
in the concrete ampitheatre
where no one speaks
except the wind and me

what dance passes
unseen between us
as the hour falls away?
shadow pulling sun
defines them so i can see
clearly the lines
wind whispers in the grass…
you are…

can you see past the stone walls
of this steel/glass building
before you
however imposing
however indifferent
however cruel
can you forgive yourself
when you cannot?

another minute more to drain
as the concrete circle slowly fills
the wind now is harder to hear
over the din
but never is far it seems
a breath away
to remind me
i am….

~

little bloom
white flashing
in the reeds and leaves

fish turn and swim among slender stems
in cool waters below you

emerald frogs hide
from the day’s heat
in your wide shade
while you sit still
to collect morning dew
for swifts and swallows

risen above the water’s edge
now gently swaying
in summer breezes
you, oh willow pond’s
beautiful jewel

~

the sun has slipped behind
the crest of trees
as day gives way to night
where will you lay your head to dream?

let me hold you here
where the stars fall like polished glass,
until your eyes grow heavy with slumber…

the bubbling laughter of water
playing playing
against the river stones
fills the air
and the lullaby of night crawlers and crickets
draws sleep closer
wrapping itself around us
like a soft woolen blanket

sleep dear one
as the fireflies dot the sky
diamonds of flickering light
i will hold you here
listen to each breath
each heartbeat

this great song i will always hold
a treasured memory
rest your head, dear one
close your eyes and dream
the buds on the branches above us
wait to bloom with the morning light
and tonight
tonight the dew will fall

~

when the effort of loving lays dying in the roses
impaled on the thorns as it falls
through the branches
ripped and shredded into pieces…
when it lays in the cocoa shells and lavendar
hidden in the cool shade of leaves
to disintegrate and fertilize
the roots ….
that is when the rose blooms

~

my heart is frankly scarlet
in the wake of the phoenix
ripe, raw, full to overflowing
up and outward moving
against this darkened sky
like each star
each moment
each breath
glowing brightly
all around me
all of this
lilting laughter
extending
beyond
within
at once
centred
open wings
this is
my life’s
beginning
this is
me

~

gentle lake
your face has changed
angry waves slap the shore
stones shine in wet dresses
thundering music of your soul
touches mine
no theory or formula
can be laid across you
to define you
even the fish swimming within
have no knowledge of you
but once outside
the agony is played on
the broken heart, broken breath
lamenting what once was

~

as morning sun yawns
spreading its first light
shimmering dew drops
send the spider into flight

along delicate homeward paths
a crystal web
where few dare to roam

prisms formed by midnight’s tears
drying on the silver threads
where the silent spider
– treads

~

quietlaughter
leaves rain on cloudless skies
winds play a symphony
through the trees
while i sit under a maple
with leaves of fire
i close my eyes
and hear squirrels
dashing madly through the brush
storing away what they will soon forget…
shadows dance as last sun spills around me
and the day falls away
i look up and smile at the winking sun
and raise my hand, palm exposed
to feel the kiss of each leaf
in the breeze, each shaft of light
you ask “do the clouds change the sun?”
and i whisper to you
in this sacred place
“no”.

~

pale light, like the blush of a rose
slips quietly across the morning sky
to thread itself through the branches of the oak
it shapes the shadows, sprawling them
out over the dew laden grass
an unassuming dance
that reaches to catch my arm
drawing me in step with ancient harmony

as we go along the light of day
longer shadows play,
and languid leaves rise and fall
with the warm breeze
soon they will tumble and turn
to rest again

day ambles away over the horizon
evening stretches now
and i sit in the glow
of sunset’s silent embrace

~

listen dear one… until the waves
are quiet against the stoney shore
when words are wrapped tightly among them
silent sentinels, guarding waiting…
moments pass, like wind through the trees
each not drawn against
the bowing branches
earlier, i watched a bird explode into the air
while another swam silently below
the serene face of the lake
and gold flashed in the shallows
as the sun set
as the first stars leap and play
against the blackening sky
know that all this i see
with you sitting here beside me

~