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Sunday, April 11, 2010

Three poems and three photographs by Karin Weber


Willow

I said to a willow tree;
you are a green haired woman
with hands growing so wild
birds slip through your fingers.
Too bad your feet are tangled up in stone

She said to me;
you are a shifting trunk
with no leaves to grace your limbs
You move in a permanent fall.
Too bad you are blown around so easily




Why Write
I live too far from the sea,
and sleep a sailor's dream.
My mind’s horizon
stretches between two blues
blended for breathing;
a spice of old shells,
dried eel grass
and lost fishes.
Standing at the edge
where smooth sand disappears
under flying water
I caste and caste again
for mermaids or a selkie lover
to draw me farther out.
They have yet to appear.
In the meantime I awake
every day land locked
to set sail with broken lines
in tiny flat white ponds.


Jasmine Cream

The short film clip shows
an eight year old girl climbing onto a truck
for a midnight ride to fields of jasmine.
Already an old woman creeps
inside the child’s spine all night
as she untethers tiny stars that loom
like dreams about to be released
until crushed in a burlap bag.

Bossman stands by with his hurry-up stick,
conversation loose as sand
pouring from one hand to the next,
“Sometimes children need to be tapped.”

Far away in a crystalline lab
a perfume artiste noses through
liquid flowers ambergris musk
to compose a master scent.
There must be no hint of any hand
that could pluck away the night.

At the department store
the beauty consultant projects a smile
on her audience and recites;
for youthful beauty one must
till the skin with loving care and just a touch of:
green mud vitamins collagen herbal infusion
extract of a million petals and water water water.
She does not speak of the stolen ingredient;
essence of childhood.

With two fingertips we are shown
how to erase our wrinkles
with white jasmine scented cream.

I think of Lotus Eaters
on their dry island
eating twisted plants,
the flavour of blossoms
masks the sight of the punishing sea.


Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

4 comments:

  1. wow! i'm more of a prose person. but i like this poetry a lot.

    jennyms

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful Karin. I love the connections, the language and the personality of the pieces! The photos are exquisite!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the intriquacies of where the poetry takes me and the beauty of the photography. The fish picture looks like a watercolour painting...blue and green Karin!!

    Beautiful and intriguing,

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  4. So deceptively simple and clear - so insightful! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

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