Cartagena, Murcia, 2008

New Ways

                    

 When

you were upon

  me

      when I was

inside you

Heaven twisted a

stiff limb

   about itself

and

came back to

  stars. Sculpted

as one we

    moved around each

   other, within the

      solid of our being.

When I was inside

   you, when you were

upon me, there were

   new ways of seeing.

Shilpgram, Rajastha, 1998

"Ekonomi"

"Ekonomi" I, II & III, 5" x 7" each. Acrylic, collage, Finnish snow, on board. 22.11.2012

"Endings"

Endings (Archipelago)

Abstract from the painting 'Endings' (17.11.12)

Lamayuru gompa, Ladakh, Sept. 1986

Hemis gompa, Ladakh, Sept. 1986

Hair

Moving around this empty house

sometimes a glint of sunlight, early

one morning or in late afternoon

before the sun sets finally behind

the mountain, scrapes a diagonal.

Pulls a sharp line of light across a

chair, the carpet or the edge of a dull

mirror. Occasionally, once or twice a

day sometimes (if I’m lucky and the

gods are with me) this streak of

sunlight will illuminate a long golden

hair. I will recognise it immediately

as one of yours; long and unique

in its colour, it will embellish any

mundanity, anything earthly in the

path of the sun-streak’s movement.

I pick up the hair, it moves on any

wisp of breeze or breath in the room

and I hold it between gentle finger-

tips as if I am holding you, ever so

lightly before dipping my lips to

kiss you. Discarding the fine line

of a hair, the memory of you – the

idea of it becoming part of the room –

sinks into my skin; the soul of the house.

Sleep

I was awake at 3 o’clock

   thinking of you

I was awake at 4 o’clock

   thinking of you

I was awake at 5 o’clock

   thinking of you

I was awake at 6 o’clock

   thinking of you

I was asleep at 7 o’clock

   dreaming of you

I was awake at 8 o’clock

   thinking of you.

Warm

Beneath a grey sky, at the sea

you are bright and brilliant

and walking with you, your

hand warming my hand, a

warmth burns through me and

through you. A wind of ice

rasps the low sky; you and I

shelter each other. Later we’ll

gasp and lie close together;

Whatever the weather we’re warm.

Diu, Gujarat, India, 1998

Georgetown, Penang, 2000

Haiku

Holding hands our fingers

   mingle, touching we

      tingle. 

Strawberries

You held the fruit

in your warm hands;

soft skin firm caressing

the fruit under your

fingers. I brushed the

long sunset hair from

your face, watched you

lick, suck the flesh of

the fruit. You were

beautiful; golden and

radiant in the sleepy

haze of a sunrise, sighing.

The Cover

Beneath the wool blanket

you’ve wrapped  tight around

us, we are entwined, wound

lightly with skin brushing

skin. In the bed, breathing

together my fingertips

feather your nipples,

my tongue stippling your

lips as we kiss. Within

the shelter of night we

swelter with moving

as one might: I miss you.

Bach

With food I cooked

and by candlelight

looked with longing

and desperate desire.

We stood in shadows,

we danced to Bach

and moved like two

flames in one fire.

We lay in a bath

more candles and

shadows, the day fell

to night and we might

stay there always. With

dripping of oil and

the skim of caresses I

watched you watch me

and I knew that I loved

you. I knew that I

wanted you, wanted us

deeply. You lay gently

upon me so smooth

against me. We touched

in the bath with dreams of

much dancing to Bach

then made love with

such love in the darkness.

And then again in the morning.