Poems from the waters of my soul

Poems from the waters of my soul
Wheel of Life

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Like a Kiss

"New Shanghainese" - Frank Yu

"I have spread my dreams 
under your feet;
Tread softly 
because you tread 
on my dreams."
-- W.B. Yeats

0.0
Poems based on images
Come to me softly
Like the moon
Like a dream
Like a kiss


1.0
Painting by Veronique Meignaud 
Angle of light
Deep in the earth
The touch of your wings
Still haunts my dreams
How I long to find you


2.0
Painting by Veronique Meignaud
Your orange reflection
Drinks from my mind
Your lonely trees
Strangle my heart
Stay with me always


3.0
Painting by Veronique Meignaud
Circling fears
Startle the clouds
Broken waves
Awaken the blood
Please hold me close


4.0
Painting by Veronique Meignaud
Mermaid dreams
Drift past the sky
Watery thoughts
Ripples and sigh
Do you feel my love


5.0
Blue thoughts lap at our feet
Yellow winds darken the sky
The sleeping moon dreams
Of Cold rainy nights
Have you forgotten me already


yamabuki Zhou
Feb 2012

My thanks to Veronique Meignaud
For permission to post her images
See more at her web site
 www.v-meignaud.com/

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Death Cuts to the Heart

"Shanghai" - Frank Yu

"The wound is the place
where the Light enters you."
-- Rumi

1.
The Oak stands strong
The storm rages
Lightning strikes
From out of the heavens
Death cuts to the heart

2.
Asleep she dreams
Even as He watches
In His pain He sees
In His sorrow He sees
Do you feel His love?

3.
When the midnight comets sing
Spirits' eyes drink the night
Oh you fates, churn the weather
In the falling of the moon
We expire

4.
This dream of love
All roses and gems
Will you remember
Holding my hand
When you awaken?

5.
Angle of light
Deep in the earth
The touch of your wings
Still haunts my dreams
How I long for you

6.
Your orange reflection
Drinks from my mind
Your lonely trees
Strangle my heart
Stay with me always

7.
Circling fears
Startle the clouds
Broken waves
Awaken the blood
Please hold me close

8.
Mermaid dreams
Drift past the sky
Watery thoughts
Ripples and sigh
Do you feel my love

9.
Blue thoughts lap at our feet
Yellow winds darken the sky
The sleeping moon dreams
Of Cold rainy nights
Have you forgotten me already

10.
The price of life
May be high
What do you see
What do you feel
Are we there too?

11.
Reflection takes us deeper
Their eyes multiply
Showing us
The joining
Of their dreams

12.
A woman in flower
Framed in light
Shadow people watch
In narrow concentration
Distant moons are crying

13.
Crossing margent shores
Hallowed spirits show the way
We walk on forgetfully
And she continues to sigh
Stoically awaiting our return

14.
Encroaching darkness
Curls in dying sight
Still we endure
Lost in thought
And fall into the light

15.
Each leaf the same
Each leaf different
Can you see it
There in their uniqueness
Their lightning veined viridity

16.
Yellow in White
Circling dreams
Not the moon
Not the stars
Our mind must wait
For meaning to appear
As we drink our tea

yamabuki Zhou
Feb 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Eighteen Poems as Fragile as Butterflies

"Snowflakes in Spring" - Yamabuki


"Stillness soars as a mountain peak
Seeking its greatness in height.
Movement stops in a silent lake
Seeking in depth its limit.
The fish in the water are silent
The animals on the earth are noisy
The birds in the air are singing.
But man has in him the silence of the sea
The noise of the earth
And the music of the air."
-- "Stillness"  Rabindranath Tagore


1.
Poems as fragile as butterflies
Thoughts as dangerous as sin
Your eyes linger lightly
In a river of darkness
That only dreams may explain

2.
Passing hours keep watch
As death prepares the way
So brief the time
Before our return
And spirit once again takes flight

3.
Beijing skies shine brightly
Dragons fly in the light
A cat's tongue flicks
Again and again
As I dream of Shanghai nights

4.
I may look like a cat
A cat from Beijing
My hats off to you
My dear friends
Paw prints in the sky

5.
Butterflies dance on brushes
Seeking to inspire images
Dark rainbows hide
Inside the jars
Awaiting your lingering smile

6.
We are her eyes
We are her feelings
We are her thoughts
We are her bodies
She loves us all
Let us love her too
Our Mother Gaia

7.
Shafts of light
In cloudly intent
Contrasts sharply
While water around us
Melts our savage eyes

8.
Red inside red
Blue slivers of shade
My thoughts of you
Wrapped in the moon
Scatter once again on the wind

9. 
Devil in mind
Hidden in sleep
Outside the light
Reflects darkly
In Savage Stillness

10.
Songs of youth
Shared without words
Looking up in awe
She shows the way
To the music of our hearts

11.
Literally rolling out of bed
Figuratively speaking
Awake or asleep
When it happens
Or just another dream? 

12.
Stiffly formal
Prim shod feet
Standing silent
Four full moons
Circle the sky

13.
The language of her eyes
The feel of her lips
Her hidden hands
Clothe my heart
In darker dreams

14.
fox and flower
unexpected
introspection
reflected
In yellow

15.
The clarity of emptiness
Echos my in mind
Speechless I sigh
Blindly I cry
Leaving nothing aside

16.
Silence is the light of the mind
Out of emptiness comes our words
Who really knows what they mean
Let us ask the birds
In their dark passage home

17.
Tendrils of dendrons
Incite the brain
Still she prays
While lightning strikes
Dare we meet her eyes

18.
The beginning of Art
The end of Art
Exposing herself
She paints her life
Clothed in beauty

yamabuki
Jan 2012