THEY ARE THE SECRETS

there is nothing much to say
but to lie or try
with sentences made to start again--
to talk, and share

about love and the stars
about the forces which take all forms
about the embraces foreseen a long time ago
about the inevitable possibilities

two weeks of silence
revolve around me, a whirlwind
of thoughts collected
into a secret

they are the secrets impossible to share
because truth doesn’t always fit in words
or in mathematical formulas
but you can hold my hand or nod (or both)

I have news ideas or ideas new to me.

::: ::: :::

[Picture: Across the street from where I live by reading_is_dangerous] In Moscow, August 2008, artist unknown

ADIEU POET

he opened his heart
and gave life
to countless thoughts

they opened his heart
and gave rise
to countless tears.

well, now
I feel lonelier

Photo: Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian poet (1941-2008)

COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, HOPE

Exactly one year ago, he promised himself to fast on August 8, 2008, in protest of the current wars, the injustices, the sufferings, etc. Fasting is not going to stop any of that, the wars, the injustice, the suffering, but he was hoping that some of his anger, and the stress, they would somehow quiet down with the fasting.

He could not have guessed that on August 8, 2008, he’d be preparing to leave the country where he lived, to go elsewhere, thanks to a job that has much to do with the wars, the injustices, the sufferings, etc. “Not eating, on that last day, is going to be difficult,” he thought, “but coming back on a promise to myself would seem to go in the way of the wars, the injustices, the sufferings, etc.” And so he decided that he would, after all, privately abstain from all food, on that day, August 8, from sun-up until sun-down.

In the name of courage, perseverance, and hope, he’ll do it; Anyway, that’ll give him more time to pack his things. His favorite books, mostly.

::: ::: :::

[Picture: Page 93 by reading_is_dangerous] From Primary Surgery, Volume 2, “Trauma” (low price edition) edited by Maurice King and Peter Bewes, featuring many contributors. I perused that book while staying with Doctors Without Borders, in the town of Rutshuru, in the North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in June 2008.

RECIPROCAL LOVE

he returned from the lake
with nothing much to say about it
except that he forgot to spread sun screen
on that most fragile of skin:
Behind the knees

consequently he suffered some mild burns
wasted one night’s worth of sleep
too bad
he read a novel by Umberto Eco
BAUDOLINO a fun story

next day another mistake
climbed a hill wearing flip-flops instead of shoes
the right one soon broke apart
forcing me to come down barefoot
thorns, rocks, tiny seeds with spikes
I was watching out for snakes

swimming was perfect
my back against the cold waters of Sevan
I was pondering on the possibility
of reciprocal love between a man
and a lake

::: ::: :::

Picture: Hill overlooking Sevan

Poem significantly edited on August 26, 2012

DEPARTURE COMES NEXT SATURDAY

most big fights
come for no reason

except that perhaps we need the
fighting, sometimes

and now I’m off to lake Sevan
my last chance to let its gentle waters
rock my soul

I should be back in three days
to receive my
passport with a
visa stamp

departure comes next Saturday

::: ::: :::

[Picture : My house on lake Kivu by reading_is_dangerous] (June 2008)

CHILDREN OF THE SUN

I just read that
a team of researchers
working for a big, big company
studied the addresses of 30 billion
text messages
in order to find out whether or not
it is true that any two people on
average are linked by seven or fewer
acquaintances

the result is: YES

78% of any pair of people chosen at random
could be connected by a chain
of just a few messages

that means this:
a) we could all be friends, and
b) there seems to be nothing to stop
the same researchers from turning to the study
of the actual content of those text messages
and these you’ll send today and tomorrow

in other news
a professor at the MIT announced that his team
developed an unprecedented process
that will allow the energy of the sun
to be stored until you need it

“it’s easy to implement,” says the scientist
who figured this out
“it’s a giant leap for clean energy,” says
another
“it’s the Nirvana we were looking for,” concludes
the first man
and we can now,
at last
think of solar power as “unlimited and soon.”

isn’t this great?
1. all of us are acquaintances or almost
2. all of us could have energy for free or almost

and now we’re missing only this:
3. human beings make decent beings
of themselves

::: ::: :::

[Picture: Corn seller by reading_is_dangerous] (In Rutshuru, June 2008)

ANOTHER COINCIDENCE

it was thirty-five degrees
on the balcony, in the Armenian city
and this was Saturday
in the early evening

the Canadian man was trimming
his beard
and watching an ant manage its way
around the mosquito net

it’s the explorer ant
that looks like it’s lost

going up and down
and left and right
and forth and back
checking this and that

it’ll get killed for some silly idea
or a poem
while the other ants walk in line
protected by the big officer ants

“you rarely call yourself the
Canadian man,”
thought he,
feeling his now shortened beard

a minute later (I swear this is true)
he got a phonecall from
a lady he barely knew—she wanted
to ask something about Canada

::: ::: :::

[Picture: Swi by reading_is_dangerous] These days the poems are bad, but I decided that I should keep on writing, anyway.

THE LEOPARD

at the center of a field, wild flowers
one thousand species of singing birds

singing birds, yes, but also flying
changing trees of bells, flutes and violons

the song is always changing
but it is always around you, about you

you are so happy
you can jump, almost fly like them birds

so you do
reach the stars, touch the moons

jump and jump, until the other end of the galaxy
there, a forgotten temple !

a cup of alien wine !
and its guardian, a sleeping leopard

ok, you try it, take the cup
big cat is sleeping

nice, you drink the wine
cherry chocolate, leopard still asleep

you feel already drunk
funny cat, sleep and sleep

you fall asleep
what happens next? I will tell you

leopard awakes at last
stretching and more stretching

big green eyes, look at you
my god, you are deep asleep

now the cat with a jump leaves that place
comes back to Earth

singing birds and flowers
under the Sun, but where are you?

at the other end of the galaxy
in a forgotten temple, there is you

a cup of alien wine
and its guardian, the sleeping you

::: ::: :::

Picture: Moon Leopard

Poem heavily modified on August 26, 2012.