lei fraser

take this breath
from my lips, wind
as you dance
in this morning’s
first light
each turning leaf
of your complete caress,
rose up to greet you
and saw it was not alone
with this life of mine
draw it up in your airy arms
as the sun wanes
and the shadows grow long
in the last whisper of light
let this stillness
resonate
in my soul

~

silent evening
as wind embraces
majestic pine
stones cease
their restless
current journey
wrapped in this
quiet blanket
moon reaches to
pull back the
cloudy curtain
in this subtle light
where the shadows
are almost imperceptible
souls sing
and laughter
bubbles up
from the depths
light falls around
like tiny gems
rolling across the palm
spiralling around
to drop like rain
when each one does
from its grassy resting place
everything, the universe
and beyond
is reflected there

~

afternoon sunlight
streaming in the window
i am sitting beside you
trying to say goodbye
but i don’t want to leave you
just want to stay
hold you close to me
to keep you safe
no matter where you are
i have a place to wander from
it may not be your hand i can hold
for all time, for always
but i know when the sun rises
you will be here beside me
holding me close
keeping me safe from harm

~

not only in the quiet
of the evening do my
thoughts turn to you
i rest with the setting sun
soothed by a cooling breeze
still the days are grey
when you are gone
and i am left with only
the cats for company
( the black one thinks to
own the chair by the window
now and the other has decided
what space is left is hers alone)
not only in the stillness after the day
is folded and put away, watching
the reddening sun but when dawn
breaks the black cast of night
and i wake with the same joy the
sky has in seeing the sun again
because in that moment it is you who
i see or at midday, when
the sun is strongest, and
i find your pictures marking my place
in a book i just took from the shelf
not only in the evening, when
darkness stills me
do my thoughts turn to you and i smile.
i smile and think of you.

~

words fall like scattered papers
as soft light dressed as afternoon
slips in through the window
illuminated
the room
my desk
my mind
revealed
i can see the torrent of books,
papers, scraps of thought teetering
on the shelves i look and see
stones i had forgotten, old photos in piles
faces from the past that stare balefully at me
landscapes waiting for acrylic birth
when did this happen?
when did i stop to do what comforts me
pulls me in from the whirling,
wraps me in the sweet unknowing and
presses a pen, a brush to my palm
whispering to me
express
instead
frantically overcome
and choking i have sat by this window
forgetting everything
until, like walking into a low tree branch
and crashing to the ground
i wake up
and watch the sun

~

waterlily white
against my palm
what dream do you hold for me
little one?
while the willow sleeps
with the resting wind
you sit with me
and hold me still
how this flower unfolds is mine
alone
every pure and velvet petal
is mine
the edge of the bloom
rests against me
while it all falls apart
where it all falls apart
i am
don’t let go of me
please
let go let go
it screams against me
let it all fall apart
let the petals float
in the water below my fingertips
in the air above my head
in the deepest part of my heart
it all falls apart
it all means something
every petal
every cell
every thought
every dream
every memory
gentle one
you are not who shattered the glass
you are who floated the flower to begin

~

A page turned with the wind
Paper from the book rustled then settled
Soundlessly
Morning stole through the window
Over the fury of night’s contemplation
No glorious sunshine
Danced and dripped gold over everything
To soften every edge and hue
Instead a cold unforgiving February day
Stared while the sky struck at the frozen ground
Bending barren tree branches in an icy coat
The white glares at me
I feel the snow bore into every cell
It blinds
Or do I blind myself?
Who do I blame when things get so hard
When they get this hard?
Steeled against the coming minutes and hours
Wiping sleep from my eyes
To peer cautiously at the resting page
What did my hand write
During my sleep
Look for nothing
Look for me
I am here

~

i have been watching my
white orchid
waiting for it to bloom
endless days it seemed
the last bloom hung
tucked into its pale green cucoon
waiting waiting waiting
and then without warning
i woke one morning
in the soft light of a new day
i saw the bloom had exploded
onto the fragile stem

~

i watched the morning sun
shine through a fern
a perfect emerald silhoette
dew gathered in the folds
of a scarlet maple leaf
shimmering in the light
i was not until i looked closely
that i saw the long slender
legs of the spider
resting on its glistening web
in complete stillness

~

listen to the wind
whispering in the softest voice
the stream sings
a laughing melody
under tall, firey trees
while my heart soars
with the southbound geese
and lies at once with
the slumbering trillium
wrapped in the solid stone shield
of this ancient soil
soon the snow will fly
and all this will remain
in untouched harmony
~

bamboo grows on the window sill
tiny saplings in water and glass
i am coaxing them skyward
i watched an emerald flyer
spread her golden wings
to dance in the sky blue eye
dipping and soaring in the breeze
fluid flight becomes a slow trickle
a gentle waterfall
flowing into itself
as she lights on the window before me
resting quietly in the late sun
i see my reflection there

~

autumn roses spill crimson
over the stones in the drive
reflections dance in the puddles
with every cooling drop

steady drumming
through the trees
a soothing lullaby
sung against this rich tapestry
as i stand collecting raindrops
in my upturned palm

~