On the street where the soles of my shoes touch down
I wonder where you paced,
Did you look out upon the waves
And long for your grandmother’s face?
Was the world so different, then to now,
That we would not understand
The other’s view, the other’s soul,
Her journey through this land?
Did you feel the thrill of life and love,
As the boats at sunrise moored,
Before you set sail to somewhere new
With a hand so newly yours?
Did you wonder what would come,
That five from two could be?
Then many more hearts in time
To pace long after me.
Tag: poetry
Like Today
On a day like today,
When a mariachi band will rip and whirl through a carriage dense with tears unwept,
The wild joy and mad shift
Makes one smile, makes one laugh.
On a day which hurls rain,
The shock it won’t stop moves to disbelief when it does,
By a lift of light so sharp, so steep
It takes one’s breath, stops the heart.
On a day when it’s just
The meaning of life as the rest has fallen away,
It’s a moment in time
Of peace, of love
And one to hold, always.
The Ride
On a long train ride
Across a big dark town
A woman looked up
As another looked down
And the smile she gave
Was full, and brave
So the other’s was bright
Though from a mother, a lover
And when she sat down
Those strangers in town
Looked forward to see
Those across could be
Just as open and young
As in their dreams tightly spun
Of hopes borne when small
Before news, before all
Could be bleak
Could be low
When there was a beauty in “slow”
When tiny steps were great…
When the world was a land
Of adventures to find
And no concept of fear or hate
His arm on the rest
Touched the other’s beside
And ashamed the man looked down
But the hand beside him
Took hold of his
As the train rode through the town
And a head rested
Upon his shoulder
As they passed so many lives by
And the world became the land that it was
Under the starlit sky.
A Sky That’s Blue
Under a sky that’s blue
A mystery comes with every pace
To rival wonder too
To flood the mind and drown the thoughts
That note the bluest blue.
Under a sun that shines
Notions strike along the way
To block the path rays find
So steps are loads that legs can’t take
And eyes are good as blind.
But then,
The world, a shock of light and dark
With arcs of colour through
Swoops low to pick you off your feet
To lift the heart, and you.
For chests of thoughts once pulled by chains
Leave ankles free to move
A twist that shifts the mind so that
The soul may push on through…
And the breeze will blow
And the sun will shine
Under a sky that’s blue.
Rise
Light On
Found an old simple poem! Maybe better spoken…
Sleeping with the light on
And I’m no child.
My night’s been wilder
Than the deepest jungle
At midnight and I’m riled
For it’s silly to be
Sleeping with the light on
When I’m no child.
Hiding under blankets
And I’m no child.
My dream was rockier
Than the steepest mountain
Walk at midnight
When friends are snakes
That come for a squeeze
So I’m ill at ease
Without my blankets tonight.
Tears on my pillow
And I’m no child,
I’m big and tall
But rolled in a ball
For I’ve joined the strangest circus in town
And if I’m no child
Then I’m the star clown:
Clutching at blankets and needing the lights
To get me through these pitch-black nights.
Let It Be Night
It’s dark with lights off
But the right way to be
With eyes open when nights
Are sad and strange
When the shapes in the room
Are the people you knew
When you were a child
So you get there again
And you’re back with the sounds
And the smells of a fair
And the touch of a hand
Might as well be right here
With the lights off.
Fear with lights off is
A fair way to feel
When your thoughts rule the air
Without any love
When they seek a hole
That you can’t get out of
Before you work out
That you like it in there
You walk through the graveyard
And relish the pain
If it’s all that you have
To feel closeness again
Time’s slow with lights off
And traps you inside
With all the dark secrets
You dodge in day’s light
Yet if that means you know them
Then let it be night.
Strange Pain
Your words sliced through, I was in two
Walking fast away from you
Question marks from what would make
You want to make a strange heart break?
Who dreamed of nonsense, something light
And you were there and saw the sight
Of brown and a huge mass of hair
Bewildered while I passed you there
I gathered up your words of spite
And walked with them and held them tight
Till they burned with a new pain
And a fear I will feel again
Sleeping With The Light On
Sleeping with the light on
And I’m no child.
My night’s been wilder
Than the deepest jungle
At midnight and I’m riled
For it’s silly to be
Sleeping with the light on
When I’m no child.
Hiding under blankets
And I’m no child.
My dream was rockier
Than the steepest mountain
Walk at midnight
When friends are snakes
That come for a squeeze
So I’m not at ease
Without my blankets tonight.
Tears on my pillow
And I’m no child,
I’m big and tall
But small in a ball
For I’ve joined the strangest circus in town
And if I’m no child
Then I must be a clown:
Clutching at blankets and needing the lights
To get me through these midnight nights.
Notes on Broken Hearts
If you break my heart
It will shatter into small coloured pieces
That made up my love for you.
They will sadden my body
My veins for their vessel
My emotions intangible
I’ll eat toast at breakfast and cry
And not know why
Until I remember you broke my heart.
If you break my heart
That thin blue line we used to draw for the sky
Will seep down the page
To make it twilight and cold
And I’ll be made up of sticks
No body needed
For now I’m a child and you broke my heart.
If you break my heart
Terror will reign,
Not the kind on the news again and again
But the sort of fear that keeps you here
How sad that you’re scared of breaking my heart
And that it’s already done.
Sarah Lamptey 