Happy 2010

Balcony

Sometimes on the balcony I see cars skating by on the nearby highway
Or trucks lumbering at torqued angles
Over the gullies of our dirt road;

I see the overview of hummingbirds´ routes,
The flirtations of lizards around the coconut tree,
And blackening puddles of rain amongst the uneven stones.

There´s a white-foam wave out on the ocean
And an ant marching over my yoga mat.

But sighs of fronds and moving shadows of leaves
Looming magnified in the balcony lights
Create illusory glimpses in my peripheral senses –

Now a creeping panther...
The non-sounds of the breeze and the thudding of coconuts;
The scuttling of a turtle? – no…a large dry leaf.

The shimmering palms whisper as they interlock,
Or is that the slightest rain?

The figure of my husband appears like a film trick,
Unannounced by silent stones.

I start yet again when, upside-down in a stretch,
I see an observant cat on the balcony´s edge –
No…just an oval urn.

What red creatures are flying by?
Oh…petals breeze-gliding.

In what kingdom am I?
Wraiths are dancing between this world and the next.

Could that stirring be my mother´s gentle breath
Joining me from a far away room?

And there´s my father´s shade,
Come to reassure.

Will I also float like a shadow past the door?
Or will my feet press into the stones with ants meandering over them?
...or are those seeds?

Wishing you a wonderful 2010 -

With love,
Sandy, Newton, Elise and Jake