lei fraser

here is your silence
in this room
laid out across the tables
in soft golden tones of candlelight
in the pages of closed books
resting now in piles
by my bare feet

here is your silence
wrapped like the amethyst beads
around my wrist
this pulse that we all share
shortening the distance
between us

here is your silence
in this quiet place
of my heart
the night folded into me
until I know longer know
where the night begins and I end
here is where love turns into
the next spiral of life
this is where silence walks

out across one open palm
to the next
held together

my heart to yours

~
la tyson

i lay down
my body
on this bare piece
of earth
breathe in
the scent of grass heavy with dew
life borders
borders where
the passing made history
with each footstep

skin pressed
down
i watch
through open fingers
above my prone self

palms to the wide black dome
supplicant
turn my hands over
and
over
Night
to break the sky
until the stars
fall endlessly
through the space
between
me and eternity

another turn
more stars fall
caught in the netted strands of my hair

when it all falls apart

a part of me
finds
its way

home

~
la tyson

Night jasmine lingers
On bare arms
Shoulders golden from afternoon sun
As I lay my head down
Lulled by fountain songs
Here along the pathways
Lit by tiny fairy lights

Vines creeping in a curtain of green
Embrace this table
Where candles sit like jewels
In the darkening evening
Only the shadows know
The leaping joy of my soul
As the mourning doves coo
Their sweet and lonely goodnight

The morning now seems long passed
When the light traced shadowed outlines
Of maple leaves on my skin
And I sat enthralled by the silent life
Of this beautiful garden

I watched as the day undid itself
Each moment the water leapt over
The edge of the stone fountains
And sunlight caught itself in
The silvery streams

It was the silence that called to me
This question –
How do you articulate joy?
It seemed an insult to use my voice
Just then instead the garden cautioned me
To sit with the question
Hold it within before
Letting the answer roll out of me

And so it has sat with me
The entire day long
I was unmoved and yet moving here
Among the blossoms and hanging leaves
The birds came and went
Flowers opened and closed in the heat
And the sun rose to its zenith and set
I heard the garden sigh contentedly
While I drifted along with breezes and clouds
And just now, sitting in a quiet corner
Looking over the garden to the waterfall
The answer came to me

I smiled.
~

la tyson