She brings out the best (in me)
melancholy monotones
mark the edges of my vision
blending blacks and whites
seeing
b l a n k
anddark
(feeling blank and dark).
but with her
i have kaleidoscope eyes
peering at the world that was once disguised
seeing beautiful chaos
colliding colours
and feeling
hope blossom like fireworks
(**just underneath the surface**).
Word Kaleidoscope
Words squeeze through
a diamond cut sky
cradle you in my palm
whirling, swirling, curling, twirling
Words fly on by
on wings of birds ,
unfolding you in my dreams
whirling, swirling, curling, twirling
Burgundy broiling words bleeding
awakening every morning to sketch
the clouds with cotton puffs
lifting the sky nigh so high in sighs
whirling, swirling, curling, twirling
Kaleidoscope of colors painted
in your mind on ribbons of silk
catching the silver drizzles of rain
the color of words dyed passion red
the tint of crimson bleeding on face
whirling, swirling, curling, twirling
Untangling nooses around trapped neck
whispered phrases in ancient chants
words have rhythmic minds of their own
awakening deep, resounding thoughts
vapors of cleansing spray – pure freedom
pearls of words open up the gift of soul
whirling, swirling, curling, twirling
parts of tangled sounds
what an intricate heart
was nestled within this soul
softly embraced . and whispered in the night
sing out your lost stars
collect the feathers
left on a dusty ground
a memory
a proof
of an angel’s feverish dance
a simple sign...
tell me, do you feel them?
do you?
( a lingering smile wrapped in sweet longing )
it's those kaleidoscope dreams,
my love
inhale the color glass
sharp edges swallowed by lightning
and melted into hollow spaces
( flowers grew in your lungs
as you fell into the ocean's waves )
you were lost
and
you were found
somewhere
between those parts
of tangled sounds
.
Rainbow dreams
The pink blended with blue,
A hue
That swirled in my eyes
And touched my scars
And brought my tears to an end.
The purple swam in orange,
Feeding my fire,
Freeing my soul
Into the boundless horizon,
Escaping the shapes and shadows.
The yellow embraced red,
Sent word
To my heart, of a new day,
Another shot at life,
Another series of breaths.
The green kissed brown.
Hope fluttered
In the depths of my bosom
As life flowed through me,
Meandering and gushing in my mind.
And all the colours
Cascaded
Into a little glass prism.
And a white fairy
Opened her wings..
The world is your canvas,
Go.
Set your dreams free.
kaleidoscope
the morphing patterns
beads tumbling through a glass tube
foretell my future
<filler words because haikus are meant to torture you because they almost never fill the word limit>
The Woe of Robert Cawdrey
Words change meanings so often
Dictionaries are all but obsolete
The day they’re printed.
Our intentions are reduced
To shards of colored plastic,
Reflecting, refracting,
Altering the light.
But ultimately awaiting
The next grubby-fingered wise-aleck
Who delights in shifting views
To chaotically create
The next newly abstract masterpiece.
“Snoodle”
“Hi Lil girl”
Said the Man with the
big Green and Purple Hat
“do you want to see magic?”
“OH YES
yes I do, where do I look”
asked the lil girl
“Right here in my bag.”
said the magic man
First
He pulled out
a fish with a bell for hook
and said no not that
then he pulled out a big blue book with
giant snook
and said
oops you should not have
seen that and quickly
put it back.
He reaches in again
and says,
“I know it’s in here, I just had it
2 hours ago.
Don’t give up
Magic is here somewhere.”
Then He shakes his bag
fiercely
it sounded like a
kitchen sink
was in it.
There was clinking and clanking
she never knew a bag
sounded like that
He reached in another time
this time his whole arm
went in...
He says “I KNOW it’s here”
and He looks in again
and then he steps in
and disappears.
The lil girl is in shock
is that the magic?
Is he stuck?
She walks over to the bag
and looks in
Just then out comes the man with
the Green and Purple hat
and a bumbleberry Cat named Snoodle
who had noodles for whiskers
and a carrot for the tail.
He also had a tube in the
other hand shouting
“I found it”
“What is it,”
the lil girl asked
“it’s a kaleidoscope of course”
“Are you ready to see Magic?”
The lil girls says
“I already have.”
“but not this”
and
He hands her the
kaleidoscope and tells
her to look through it
spin the tube watch
the colors dance.
she does and
SMILES.
The REAL Magic is in the lil girl’s SMILE!
Athena
09/10/2020
Kaleidoscopic
R ed was the color of her hair, my daughter
E lizabeth, named for my friend and
D reamed of, something to piece together later
B lue was the color of his lack of compromise
L ost in his own wasteland,
U nable to see past other women, prideful of his
E xceptional gift, except in emotion
P urple is the color
U sed when a wound becomes a bruise
R andomly placed on the body
P assionately
L eaving a kiss of what was, could have been
E ven when we knew it was done
The flee market
just before the school year started, the mall had an event that is mostly alien to Chinese culture: a flee market. the connotation of flees turns people off, and it doesn’t help that you tell them it’s just a sarcastic sort of name for a very practical activity: getting rid of junk.
the flee market was mostly about kid’s stuff. parents got their kids to put out their old toys and clothing.
i guess it had educational value, getting the kids to learn how to sell and haggle. there was a lot of crying as kids were selling off their toys which they obviously havent even looked on for ages.
my baby was soooo excited. we walked between the little tables , full of stuffed animals and cars and action figures. i had a massive bag prepared and was quickly filling it, feeling a bit guilty, that i am taking them away, like some monsterous capitalist giant, among the lamenting liliputians.
it was then that i saw the kleidoscope. i have not seen one of those in a long time. i think the tree where they get them from, has gone extinct. you can’t find them in toy stores anymore.
i guess the simple wander of little colorful shapes changing with beautiful symetry is not such an appeal to kids anymore. they have more exciting things to see. they get their shapes and colors on smartphones, and you don’t need to squint.
the one on sale was mostly made of cardboard, it was a ‘finding nemo’ paraphernalia (so at least 15 years since peoduction stopped) and indeed, the flakes inside were shaped like little fishies.
my baby loves fishies and i was hoping she would find it interesting, if not now, then maybe a few months down the line. who knows when i’ll see such an archeaic artifact again?
i tried to show my princess how to use it. you hold it so, you look through the hole.
she was more interested in a monkey robot toy.
but she humored me. at this age she already knows daddy’s an idiot, but it pays to be nice.
she takes the thing. inspects it, for a second, hold it up to her eye.
then she smashed the thing on the table.
it’s amazing how forceful she can be. the cardboard just buckled, and a million colorful fishies were set free upon the low plastic coffee table, which incidentally was blue.
the little girl that was selling her old stuff was amused by this and offered more things for my angel to smash.
but of course, the 'you break it, you bought it' rule applies in china, and even in flee markets.
i 'bought' the thing, along with the plastic monkey, for something like a dollar and we went on to destroy/buy other things.
The girl in the mirror
The girl in the mirror
Is not the one I used to see.
The girl in the mirror,
Is she really me?
She doesn’t look happy.
What happened to my smile?
She doesn’t look happy.
It’s been like this for a while.
The girl in the mirror,
She tries to act so tough.
The girl in the mirror,
I know it is a bluff.
I want her to leave.
Before I attack.
I want her to leave.
I need the old me back.
The girl in the mirror
Is not the one I used to see.
The girl in the mirror,
Is she really me?