Umber tresses, splendent locks,
Standing still on cliffs of chalk.

To see the world in light so clear,
A heart so close, and passions dear.

A song to linger, lips to meet,
With spirits far in want so sweet.

But time will tear apart so slow,
Those newly met with fate in tow.

Through life we live each busy hour,
The moments queued up to
The next which waits, with bated breath,
For its turn, long past due.

Now in your arms I realize,
The barrenness of haste.
And in your gaze the timeless guise
Shall never fall to waste.

Side by side embarked upon,
A life together shared.
To begin a paradigm of love,
Now sweeter tastes the air.

Devotion’s warp and passion’s weft,
Have weaved a cloth amor.
To keep a wayward couple safe,
Upon life’s rocky shore.

Forged in the heart of lover’s night,
A precious treasure grew.
To weather every petty strife,
Pure gold- when struck- rings true.

A toast to favored times ahead,
To days of bliss and luck.
Tonight together firstly wed,
So now, go home, and sleep.

A curl of hair, a lock abound
A joking whisper quiet sound.
To laugh and watch and sit and stare
In grassy lush beyond all care.

In supine form to watch a cloud
A quiet spark, a gasp aloud.
And now we wait for times next meet
With reminisce- so fond, so sweet.

Love to love will pass on by,
You’ll fall too far and soar too high.
Yet step on step my soldier fair,
Keep your heart light and wrent to bear.
And journey on with eyes ablaze,
To fill your youth with passion days.
For even if you’re trodden down,
The pain is worth the pleasure’s crown.

Love, lust, loneliness or a lost language,
Drink moonlight and let the wine spill.

Sit slide against the side and stare,
Hesitate until the scarlet heart beat breaks.

Suggestions incarnate and unformed, let the third speak;
We only listen to each other.

Darkness pleaded for, promised, but arriving late.
Where next? Urgency forgone.

Lost in moments held for longer than they last.
Makeshift mischief spends anxiety without change.

Flippancy and pride,
The recompense for romance.

Her voice wavers, setting free haunted notes in a tinkling drawl. Abstract chords on the guitar strummed slowly. And I listen. Out of sight. Hesitant to make a sound that would break that frigid spell.

The rhythm flows quicker as the first glints of sunlight creep across the dusty wooden floor. Boards laid a century ago, waiting.

Notes of her voice crescendo up, for whom? Where have I experienced this dream before? They say there is the way of nature and the way of grace. If only I could walk that line unheeded. Forgetting, letting go, inspired and unconcerned. After the fall what were we left with? Is there no way back? Through these soprano notes?

Let’s drink
To dance together all night long
And stop to laugh between each song

Let’s lie
Tumbled in blankets strewn about.
And watch the lonely stars come out.

Let’s sink
Into each other’s arms between,
And think endless thoughts and endless dreams

Let’s look
Into each other’s eyes and see
What sort of danger might there be.

Let’s wake
Wrapped tight at the start of day
And let time pass us on its way.

Let’s watch
Each other silently.
To find the passion underneath.

Let’s sit
By the fire and whisper stories
Of tender thoughts and memories.

Let’s live
Together for today. A week a month.
May a lifetime not be enough.

Let’s stop
And wonder at the sky
How our time has passed us by.

Black panties and a green sweater strewn. Red reside drying in glasses set aside. The music stopped. Outside snowflakes lit up in a dark courtyard.

Sitting. Head against the wall. Staring
A mess of hair lying in my lap. Staring.

Truth or Dare
Truth.
Truth or Dare
Truth.
Truth or Dare
Truth.

Are you afraid of dying
What wouldn’t you do for me
What wouldn’t you let me do to you
What was your worst lie
How do you know you love me
What was your deepest emotional moment
Have you ever been truly afraid
What do I do that makes you happy
Why did you leave me

You watch yourself and you watch her.
Waiting for something you know can’t happen.
Pale skin
An arched back
Silk smooth hair slips aside.
A momentary glimmer.
Your eye catches and stays.
Two warm bodies miles apart, yet closer than most.
Neither can let go.
Neither will.
Quiet now.
The sound of a car passing, of faint laughter.
Nothing interrupts.
Single words typed with one hand. Words of love, desire.
Words that can’t be said in daylight.
Long pauses and long glances.
Roll away and let one watch the other.
Passion holds so tightly it hurts.
Moments that can’t be captured, held.
They’re there and they pass.
Only a memory left.
A memory fainter, a feeling lessened, but the knowing remains.
Look ahead, look back, try to understand.

You are the beauty in the curve of a silk dress. A batted eyelash. A falling petal.
I hear you in every soft lyric sung. Every quiet sigh. Every pleasure moan.
You are what’s left in a lonesome silence. In the first moments of dawn. In the quiet thoughts of evening.
You are the soft light shown on an empty stage. The fluttering curtain of an open window. A empty bench in an autumn eve.
I see you in every slender branch bent by wind. In the glint of stars surrounded by dark. In pattered drops of rain on a glass pane.
You are what stops my fall. What is left when my mind let’s go. What fills me when nothing else can.

I’ve been on a journey this year to learn the Russian language.

Through this I’ve been exposed to a lot of Russian culture, including prominent writers and poets. Everyone knows the famous writers Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, but less well known in the west (though I believe more well known in Russia) is the poet Pushkin.

Although I am by no means fluent, I’ve attempted to translate one of his poems that spoke to me deeply. You can listen to a reading of the original here or here to get a feeling for the external and internal rhyme scheme.

A amateur student of Russian can by no means compare to the genius of Pushkin in his native language, yet I hope my translation does it some justice, if only in terms of the heart.

Я вас любил: любовь еще, быть может,
В душе моей угасла не совсем;
Но пусть она вас больше не тревожит;
Я не хочу печалить вас ничем.
Я вас любил безмолвно, безнадежно,
То робостью, то ревностью томим;
Я вас любил так искренно, так нежно,
Как дай вам бог любимой быть другим.

I loved you; and maybe I still do.
It lingers in my soul, not yet extinguished.
But nomore let it distress you,
Let nothing else sadden you, is all I’ve wished.
I loved you; silently, hopelessly.
That shyness, that jealousy tormented.
I loved you; sincerely, gently.
Let God give you another, to love you in my stead.

You can find other translations of this poem here and here, and rate yourself which is the best. Feel free to reach out. I want to know what you think and what you feel. We all have emotions inside us, and poetry can sometimes bring them out more clearly than any other way.

You look down, smiling, talking.
Telling a story that makes us both laugh.
Your hair hangs over your face like heavy boughs draped with heavy snow.
When you look up the seconds tick away as your gaze travels across the room.
I meet it, but for a second. I can’t give too much away.
My mouth hurts, and noticing this I smile harder.
How many nights like this will there be?
Will we stand across from each other forever? Always hesitating? Always waiting?
Will we watch ourselves play out in the future or will each day of small moments pass by.
I won’t fall asleep tonight, at least for a while.
Will you?

We walked.

I watched the water and you watched me.
I never looked you in the eyes.

We drank and wandered.
You told me stories and they unfolded in black and white.
Now two of us remember.

I was a good place and a bad time.
I have clothes from there but not from then.
They’re forgotten but for one.

I left.
You stayed.
I left
Unanswered questions that stayed with you.

There is a questioning in the air and a quick passion blooms.
A single, simultaneous step. Bold in it’s quickness yet constrained.
You hesitate
I hesitate
In our minds, we dance
Round one another.
Waiting but not waiting for the next turn. The next spin, a dip.
Completely alone within and without we twirl, moving, gyrating in spirals across the floor.
There is a momentum building. A slow climax toward an unspoken reach.
We move in and out. Closer then cut by distance.
A glance up.
A blink and the clearness of your eyes shines.
Two dark pools inviting to a dark realm.
Tempting, daring, and quickly rescinding back to tepid waters.
Nothing stops. Our footsteps proceed.
Moving lightly, faint sounds to remind us that time continues on.
In the mind each tempted by each, playing with seriousness itself.
The daring builds, pushing itself forward through deliberate steps.
Closer a warmth brushes through the air.
A quick moment is all it takes to come together.
And to come apart.
The dance goes on, drifting, drifting.