Friday, May 27, 2011

sleep


You were taken
so quickly
From dust to dust, but
you had not even drifted yet.

You were a vapor, fragrant mist
not noticed but certainly
not forgotten.
She couldn't catch you,
and they.

You were parched roots of
a lonely tree who
dreamt dreams of family,
but darling, your soul was
snatched away.

Your mother held you, dying, in
her quivering arms, close
to heaven, close to heart,
but even then who can
sense the movements of
the human soul?
Behold, O mother, whose
eyes are dull with ashes--
there is water pure to cleanse.
Behold, O sister, whose
eyes serene unfeeling--
shed a tear for dormant hearts,
lest yours be still again.
Mine eyes cannot even bear
to hold their gaze!
O pain unbearable,
O darkness thick,
not long, not much longer, for
in death, we shall arise.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

þú ert og það er von.


Winter tree, I saw you
shiver through the cold,
bleed your silver cuts
loose into the bark.

Winter tree, I saw you
through the distant mist
between the snow softly falling and
the hail that bruised the woods.

Winter tree, don't cry
I saw your tears run a river
I saw your fears knotted tight
--between the beauty and the death,
I saw you,
gasping for flight.

Winter tree, don't fade
though winter is grief
the promise is life.

Winter tree, have heart
though naked and raw
I saw you blossom
with the dew's fresh start

Winter tree, sing a lullaby
in desolate land;
your breath in the cold will
warm spring maidens fair
in the beauty of time due.


photo