Kathinka
I came to this place after
your sojourn: your presence
still lingered in the air,
and the spirit of the place
remembered you. Grass stalks
your footsteps flattened
have lifted themselves
in anticipation of your return.
I reach a rim of rocks outlining
a shallow pond. It was here you sat
in a meditative calm, and felt peace
permeate everything. Then beauty
simply unfolded herself, like a flower-
patch in sunlight. When goodness arrived,
you knew this circle of virtues was complete.
It is your presence which summoned this trio.
The tears you shed
in that moment of fulfillment
were harbingers of Joy, not sorrow.
They arose from deep within you,
where all is whole and free, and
dropped one by one into the patient
ground... My words vanish, too:
they were drawn forth
to witness your epiphany: what persists,
what abides is simply the love
your meditation left behind,
that turns the hum of existence
into the music of of our shared life.
peace, beauty, and goodness. don't we all wish, perhaps unawares, for all of these? And i'll add one: money! My words vanish..............but it really isn't so! i see more words. the poem is a little high-class for bri, but bri liked it anyway. the title and first word (Kathinka) are a bit too cryptic alsa. have a nice year upcoming. bri :)
Kathinka is a musician I know in Germany. For many years she was close to the avant garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen whose works we both revere. He wrote many works for Kathinka which I especially love. So the sadness of this poems comes forth from a deep place in both of us..
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I like this, Daniel, giving form to memory connected to and summoned by the return to a place. Particularly delightful to me is Grass stalks your footsteps flattened have lifted themselves in anticipation of your return. I imagine Walt would be pleased with this turn of phrase.-Glen