It was such a beautiful thing

It was such a beautiful thing

Moments when he would pick up his guitar

To play and make music

Sometimes, the words were not there

Yet, the sound was whole

Only when you started saying them

In tune

In time

In rhythm and in rhyme

It takes form into song

And you felt the magic

The power this kind of love

Can wield and do

How innocent and delicate

So young and true

It has been years

Ages and ages ago

Now you only hear footsteps

Quietly retreating

Into shadow

zarahG 10.10.2021

Crawling

Crawling

Me, on most days.
Seriously.
Don't be fooled by the smile you see.
But, I assure you.
I am going to be OK because
I have learned to love myself.
I know my name.
And when
I traverse this road again,
I can meet my demons
And call them
Friends

zarahG 10.14.2021

For KTH who is asking for Purple Words

For KTH who is asking for Purple Words

I think of Purple
And what it means to me
It is the bruise on my skin
Painful and ugly

It is the sap of ube
Staining my white dress
I'll definitely get a scolding
How clumsy! How careless!

It is the grape juice I spilled
Leaving marks on the table cloth
Seeing the frown on Papa's face
I always fall short

Of expectations
On what to do and what to say

A square peg in a round hole
Always less and never more

But you
Oh, when I turn to you

You make my heart sing
In perfect tune

I dance
I follow the beat
All in time

In cadence
In flows, in movements
And ryhthms

Who they think as awkward
Who they see as strange
All these kinds of weirdness
Suddenly --
It makes sense

You laugh at the mistakes
You kiss the pain away
You are the sky at sunset
A promise of night moving into day

Purple is my comfort
Purple is my strength
Purple is my joy
A constant and endearing friend

zarahG 10.4.2021

My Morning Visitor

 My morning visitor

I often hear my lola
My Nanay Leony
Speak about butterflies and dragonflies
As angels
As spirits

How small and fragile
These creatures are
How delicate and dainty
They look
But there lies
In each of these creatures

A stronger kind of magic
That science has
Dispelled

Such tiny tender things
Carry the weight of the world

zarahG 9.22.21

Clay

 Clay

This mound of clay
Soft and cold
Will soon feel the warmth of your hands

It will bend and yield
To your intent
Only if
At first
You listen
To what it wants to say
To its untold story

Give it a name
Talk to him, her, they
Be honest with your intentions

Water and air
Are his, her, their friends
In the kiln
Fire will make
Him, her, them remember
The memory of your touch

zarahG 9.6.21

Nanay Leony

Nanay Leony

Garlic, ginger
Salt and pepper
Onions, of course

What Nanay Leony calls
A concoction to ward off
Dis-ease

She sings
An ancient tune
Sounding out the words under her breath
While stirring the pot
Of chicken broth

The aroma fills the kitchen
It floats over the sala
Out to the veranda
Where I sit watching the neighborhood kids play in the rain

The smell, the sounds
They find their way into my heart

She would call me
And I know it is time
To be healed
To be loved
And to live again for one more rainy day
While eating the flavors of earth and air

zarahG 8.31.21

August Rain

 August Rain

The magic is gone
The lights, the sparks
The dazzling burst of stars

The exhilarating excitement from whispered spells
Have all fizzled

Like smoke
Curling into nothingness

Leaving a faint smell of regret
A tear drop falls

Crystals shattered into
Tiny little pieces

zarahG 8.3.21