I hold a pebble from the beach, hold it tight. My knuckles are white. When you turn to face me, I will open my hand. When you turn. When…. If….
hope
holidays must end
holidays must end
friendship, sun, hope packed away
next year, yes, next year
Independence
You hid the hope in cloudy crystal,
like a mosquito in the amber.
You shaped the jewels and clipped them on their chains.
One you put around your neck and one, hard-handed, round mine.
Your hope is independence, I thought you said.
It broke my heart to leave you but now I’m strong.
Rain falls
Rain falls on rivers
Fine stippling below the trees
Fish rise, do not bite
Hope, hope again
Good Friday I eat passion fruit.
Seeds crack
between my teeth
and I swallow sweet.
Hope, hope again
above despair.
When it’s spring again
Hope springs eternal
Buds burst to flower
Spring brings us eternal hope
The light bounces back
My kitchen window looks onto the back of a sheltered accommodation block. Cats prowl on the grass below. In the morning, in spring and summer mornings, in clear spring and summer mornings, the sun shines onto the red-brick walls and bounces back to light my kitchen.
This morning I waved to the old man whose name I don’t know and he waved back. Today the reflected light shone out from his eyes. He smiled and pulled the curtains shut again.
The moment before falling
I look out across the foam-flecked waves
and feel the moment before falling.
I close my eyes and tilt my head
and feel the moment before falling.
In my mind I see your smile
the sunlight on your earring
I hear your voice, I sense your touch
I feel the moment before falling.
I ran through the dark
I ran through the dark
I ran through the winter snow
The dawn will break soon
Hope
You wake. You get up. You hope.
You wake. You hope.
You hope.
Hope.
simonsalento 