Back To The Land Of The Cloud Poem by Lorraine Margueritte Gasrel Black

Castles of my dreams sitting high on
the azure strand
where gamines danced
to the white birds' screams
and waves tossed the sun-bleached sands.

You've seen them sooner than I
for the gates are closed to me
on this earth.When each day
brings me closer from my birth
so like those gentle birds I'll fly...
to my castles in the sky.

Should I forsake the beauty of my hill
to dance the song
of my piper's will-and like a puppet-
be commanded to cry?

Let me live with my own birds here
until my turn draws nigh-
then I'll not think of my castles on high
-for this hill is nearer.

Let me soar with my own birds here
until I'm ready for the soil
of my forbidden land
and reach for the last Fig leaf
loved by my withered hand.


Published Spring 1970 in The Beachplums