gold .osi

' life '

they all come in gold
foxes and fishes
birds and the flowers ,
i live in a children's story ,
a blonde priestess of hope
hands me the morning ,
crooked magicians play
tricks in a shadowplay ,
toy soldiers like gi joe
keep track with the sun
buddies like pinocchio
letting lose the fun ,
time enters
on a trojan horse ,
yellowing me with age ,
i keep growing old
but never grow up ..

original / zg

[ Ed : Line 1 - scattering the gold ]

single.osi

' addresses '


jackals howl a mystery
the leaves rustle with longing
the winds sigh for no reason
crickets talk to the heavens ,
a maze of stars shimmers
like fireflies burning
a night of moonlessness ,
it could be anything
love , illusion or nothingness ,
just what is it ,
roads of black tarmac
like a dark night
insomniacal
run through the city
from house to house , door to door
where the answers live ..

original / z.g.

[ Ed ; Line 4 - the crickets add a chorus ]

blowing the curve.osi

' ECG '

an arc , a line and a dot
build a question mark ,
to understand curves
see how the river flows ,
find that the clock is still
but the pendulum swings ,
trapezing through dawn and dusk
light and shade boomerang ,
watch the skyscraping neons
stabbing the night with purple
with fluorescent blues ,
like spectral cardiograms,
like jagged price indices
shadowing the passers by ,
who turn and twist and bend
negotiating the curve
of the cost of living ..

original / z.g.

[ Ed : Line 4 - flow like the river ]

sunny days

' sunflowers '

drop this vacant straw of thought
into a lemonade noon
let the clothes evict dampness
while the seagulls keep diving
for a sun below the sea

let the robins rob the day
a shilling's worth of brightness
and squander it for nothing
on the eldritch rooftops
of forgotten barnhouses

shifted from the pavements
and sidewalks of the city
without the power to act
to speak , think or change things
watch them bloom and wither

like a smile on the faces ..


/ original / z.g.

chaos

' vacuum ' -


haiti ,
the quake fractures everything
splitting the earth
collapsing the brick and mortar
like loose trousers
sliding down a child's legs ,
wherever you look
disintegration
chaos ,
the words have cracked too ,
i slip through the chasms
get past comprehension ,
soaked into the eyes of a kid
with no inkling of death
or life ,
i am trapped inside
a still(-ed) image ,
incoherent
disjunct
numb ,
the questions
they would come ,
where is mom
where is dad ,
not finding them around
she would look for her doll ,
buried below the debris
with the memories . .


/ original / z.g.


[ haiti _ tues jan 12 - 2010 - quake ]

( Ed : Line 18/19 - paralyzed / disarticulated ? )

indurated.osi

' earthen '


ruddy waters flow
to the beat of an udu
the rhythm of the djembe
breaking the shales of sorrow ,
feel the rusty brown mud
in the kiln of a potter ,
arroyos of fire and air
run through the clay ,
crushed,kneaded and burnt,
as if in a volcano ,
to reach a creation
a void of fullness
indurated but tender ,
bearing the salt of life ,
turning my breath into song
an ocarina
this ancient flute of clay ..


/ original / z.g.

( udu - djembe : drums of clay
ocarina - clay flutes with origins going back to the mayan civilization )

[ Ed : Line 5 - into rusty brown mud ]

wings .osi

' airborne '

darkness
burns a candle
melting icarean dreams ,
on the earth
the white wings of winter
a goose carved in snow ,
undulating greens
fields of wheat , fields of maize
parrots in the sun ,
verses in terracotta
bathing in the dust
mud colored sparrows ,
how the shadows grow
see crow after crow ,
the first roseate ray
a golden eagle freed ,
on the earth
my childhood scrapbook
without any wings
just fallen feathers
and a pageful of sky ..

/ original / z.g.

( edited & rearranged )