| Verse |
Duet
Two swans across a lake;
engaged in intricate courtship dance,
more of a tango than a ballet.
Bodies advance, seize and retreat,
separated by two babygrands.
It fills the air;
staccato when we bicker;
Piano, I admit defeat.
Your resentment relents pianissimo;
understanding comes lento
building into a bliss of allegro andante,
Consumed by the passion which binds us forte, forte.
Different chords fuse harmonically into our melody.
Note: I wrote this piece when PoezijaPlus invited me, along with other writers, to a classical concert by Jennifer Micallef and Glen Inanga held at the Manoel Theatre on the 28 th February 2005. Writers were invited to put the inspiration beckoned by the music to paper. The poem is reproduced on PoezijaPlus’ website.
In Arial 14 Bold Black
today I typed:
‘I love you’
in an email.
Instead of clicking on send,
I hit backspace ten times.
But tell me,
why are you still here?
The Pianist
A fairy,
delicate attentive fingers
stroking the air
lithe and determined,
forceful sometimes.
She sits on a cloud,
taps the wind with her feet.
Autumn leaves cease to rustle,
birds mute their beaks,
rush hour traffic relents
to hear her fingers skim the keys.
Her music spreads through the air –
Refreshing waves of forgiveness;
pure, peaceful and perfect
like snowflakes.
Your Hands
Your hands -
With an expressive wave
you brush the hair from my face.
Holding my cheeks
softly, firmly
with your talc and sandpaper grasp.
Under my skin my blood boils.
You look into my eyes
forcing me to hold your gaze
and you bore into me -
My soul forever exposed,
fragile and naked.
Words
Written in black and white
In every letter I ever sent you
- or meant to at any rate.
Seared into my stone cold heart,
my words look for you,
But like homing pigeons
unable to reach their destination,
they return useless and baffled.
Sacred and profane
Sacred and profane;
God and the devil.
Man betwixt,
sitting on a fence.
Dangling feet point to one side,
While eyes look towards the other.
©Nadine Brincat 2005
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.