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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Three Poems ------ Maura Gage Cavell



She Dreams Awake While He's Working
                            


She walks on the railroad ties
whispering his name, whispering his name.
So in love and cut through with pain,
her boot heels drifting along the lines
of man made rails and fallen leaves.

He works so hard his body's burning,
yet holds a sense of purpose in his eyes.
All night he's awake in production,
pushing past exhaustion, making it happen.
Steadily, he meets every responsibility.

She walks far out into the rain,
jumps away from the tracks when she sees
the moon-shaped light of a train.
She walks near the water, whispering his name,
the man of her dreams lingering in her heart.

He comes in from working, tired and beat,
gets clean and eats, falls into the trance of sleep,
too brief, much too brief.  Coffee, cigarette, work boots--
all in the dark before the work begins again.
The strenuous pattern of his week--muscles tight, fatigued.

When he's back home, she reaches for him,
rubs his shoulders, neck, and back
until he melts into a trance,
released from time, place, and circumstance.

relaxed and falling back as he whispers her name.





Blue Buildings


In a cold, empty alleyway
he stands directionless,
snow falling around him.

Somewhere across town a woman
thinks of him, sits by firelight
wondering if he is safe and warm.

Blue buildings loom around him,
block out all but a patchy sky.
The moon glows yellow in a square frame.

Lantern lights glow like false stars;
he looks up as if to find answers.
Wrought iron balconies loom overhead.

In a blue building across town a woman
longs for him, wishes he might return
from the shadows of night.

Somewhere lost between blue buildings,
his boot heels echo through the streets.
He finds himself among light and shadow

                                               at her door.





Your Life Like the Waters
Passes through All


My friend, your life
is a tapestry of love
threaded through
the waves of rushing
waters under your boat
as you fish.

My friend, your life
is chiming through the heavens
and touches all who know you
with the beauty of artwork
and a sound of waves that go out
from where you are and return.

My friend, your life
rings throughout the horizon
like a beautiful bell or
a song of love.  I see your
light upon the landscape.
You're the sun; the stars.

My friend, your life
has been calm and peaceful.
The love I have for you
waves out towards you,
holds you like a sun ray
and let's you be free.



--Maura Gage Cavell

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