Desiderata

1. I sent forth my kite into the sky, my heart
in my mouth, I wondered
if the kite might ever return. Square rice-paper,unadorned,
joined clumsily with 2 crossed bamboo strips and held together with thread
and tape, a flimsy construct not destined for permanence. In my hand,
the spool makes a sudden jump
at unravelling, the kite straining to free itself. I let it go;
the sympathy in me and the wind
both welling, both taking turns to pull and let go.

2. 1984, the first time I saw the meek red drops,
otherwise inconsequential. From my childish frame, not yet
curved and bent by womanhood it came. The red appeared
like an apology, embarassed by its own unexpected arrival. It waits,
silently for me to bid goodbye to my childhood. That year,
nothing else happened.

3. I hope you'll find peace in Sorrento as I once did.
I sat myself down on a cliff top where once stood a roman castle, its' not
even a vague memory now, identifiable only by remains of rubble. Ocean, mountain
and sky stood in perfect symmetry. In the presence of god,
the soul says everything, the lips cannot
find equal words to express. For once, there are no loose threads,
my world felt whole.

(19 Nov 2007)