I climbed a long road to a seat in the cloud
Where I watched soft wings beat butterflygold
Across the valley.
Stirred, I sang out for the brush of their beauty:
Might their velvet powder melt merry with mercy
My frozen cheek?
They gambolled in glory, made love to the light,
Wove wandwarm with wonder their way within sight
Of my shady seat.
I longed for their dance, but my shadow held still,
Undefined in the cool, yet preserved in the pull
Of old destiny.
Now it seemed, from the shade, if the line of the sun
Would advance, yes, invade, then they too would come
And gentle me.
Yes! They surged, saviour-sweet, but spattered their dust!
Against Time’s transparent fear-fortress they crushed,
Oh! lavishly.
And sundials spun and seasons were spent
While vision staggered through a veiled instant
Of disbelief.
Soulshaken I shivered: in shadow they’d gone;
My own scornful shade, surreptitious, slid on
Insidiously.
Half-blind I resigned to the dark of the hill
Allcompassing me in green-gathering chill
Persuasively.
But the finger of noon forced a way through the leaves,
My shadow surrendered and the butterflies sneezed
This close to me.
Tia Azulay 22Oct91-14Feb07
Copyright © 1991, 2007 Tia Azulay
Hi Tia, your “Time Travel” poem reminded me of Chuang Tzu(Chinese sage)who dreamt he was butterfly – flitting & fluttering around, happy. Suddenly he woke up & found himself unmistakably. But he didn’t know if he was Chuang Tzu who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Tzu. After every 2 lines, u pose & say 2-4 profound words; new style. 2ndly u finish lines rhythmically viz.cloud-gold, hill-chill, light-sight, gone-on which is lucid. With love,Jay from India
Hi Jay, how lovely to see you show up on my blog!
Thanks for your kind comments on my poem, and for the reference to Chuang Tzu. I did not know of his butterfly dream. I now see that there is a detailed Wikipedia entry on him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuang_Tzu so I shall look forward to finding out more about him when I have time!
Wow…u surprised me as u’ve promptly searched Chuang Tzu!!! What a zeal, will…After every 2 lines of “Time Travel” u’ve some realizations & u put word/phrase to convey your insights and motivate readers to introspect. I’m thankful 2 u.