Beyond The Waves

She drifts afloat beyond the waves
beyond where they rise and fall

I see her there but you do not
she is minded in memory pale

her tender skin warm and brown
sparkles with salty ocean sand

she fears not a bottomless depth
as the ocean touches her hand

her life has yet to really begin
& is still filled with vivid color

before living is stolen from her
& beauty becomes ghostly pallor

but beauty will blossom again
to show her the color and wonder

she drifts afloat beyond the waves
beyond where they rise and fall

to crash the sandy beaches with
seaweed painted shells hollow

where sea gulls screech loudly
she knows no one will follow

© January 2020 Renee Espriu

This Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Prisms of Life

Thousands of raindrops falling
are like tiny clear crystals
jewels upon my window
where I see

my life unfold in mirrored images
a kaleidoscope  of dismal greys
not yet transformed
into rainbows
of colors

not yet penetrating my soul
the very spirit of my being
collecting like shattered glass
beneath my feet

my life will transform into something
manifest as colored prisms within
the kaleidoscope’s hidden
brilliant colored
light

a revelation of a loving heart
long sleeping inside the pain
of living in fear of knowing
of feeling alive

for as the images change amongst
the shards of broken glass
they must also within
the turning kaleidoscope
of colors

images change in all Seasons
spring flowers bloom abundantly
tender leaves of bright green unfurl
birdsong and insects serenade

summer dry and hot in all manner
relishing a soothing drink of water
touching landscapes brown to then

bringing fall’s brilliant colors
of reds, golds, yellows and orange
foliage turning brown and brittle
welcoming cold of winter

so spring returns to flourish
to bring life new yet already
here thriving beneath the safety
the warmth of moss and soil
always living in
hibernation

so all is alive within my spirit
hidden within smoldering embers
waiting to emerge
relishing the
breath of life

© November 2019 Renee Espriu

Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

A Touch of Wind

There is a light wind pushing
ever so slightly against me
touching my face briefly
before moving on
apropos

caressing as a lover’s
gentle kiss a dahlia’s petals
to the ground to lie
beneath full blooms

soft pastel colored lavender
bright with life’s promise
now faded as though clouds
miniature have settled
at my feet

where once again a lightness
of wind inhales releasing
a puff to calmly
wrap itself

in and around blades of grass
coming to gently rustle
the twigs of the
fragrant mock orange
in passing

the wind coalescing as
tendrilled & ghostly fingers
is ever a breathing
companion to nature

even in a wisp of air
trembling a reed

© August 2019 Renee Espriu

Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

New Impressions

Wide open spaces of endless miles
of fields, farms and tracks of homes

stand in stark contrast to cities
choked with factory smoke stacks
with the polluted exhaust of traffic

that rise up to collectively gather
in visible, relentless chains
of greenhouse gases choking
off life giving

oxygen the memories of a lifetime
of living growing accustomed
to cacophonic decibels
of noise
now silenced

replaced with nature’s music
a symphonic aura of colorful
notes

blue skies redolent of wind &
breezes filled with the green
chattering of crickets

sunsets sweeping the horizon
in pink and purple hues
akin to stringed instruments
playing

where a night is lit dazzling
with lightning and thunder
fire bright yellows and orange
an orchestration of astounding
proportions

there are new impressions
waking all my senses, increasing
my awareness

to add to and multiply memories
creating the complexity
& beauty
of a life

© August 2019 Renee Espriu

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures

Turtle Rainstick

The tall piece of bamboo sets in the corner
as though keeping the walls from colliding
with the aboriginal turtle in mustard yellow hues
keeping a silent vigil, a respite, as the rain
signals a force of nature outside my window

I am reminded that I am a creature of water
my molecular being silent within a human shell

the wonder of a million droplets from a cloud
forming a single raindrop is mind boggling
as they gather in rhythmic action

creating puddles, streams, rivers, waterfalls
cascading exponentially into vast oceans
a home for other water beings living
within a life-giving force

and I listen in amazement at the symphony
that brings life to the earth I live on
where brilliant colors of flowers bloom
in gardens tended and meadows flourish
on mountains

replete with nature’s abundance of creatures
beasts walking the land and flocks of birds
taking flight tenured with bird song

am I not enraptured to know my heart
still beats within its fluidic capsule embrace
of the water that holds me ensconced
in safe keeping

that when the rain thus ceases its’ melodic sounds
the bamboo stick awaits but my touch
yearning to recreate rain’s wondrous music
the timeless aboriginal turtle
warm beneath my hand

© May 2019 Renee Espriu

Background Bamboo Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Overlain With My Take On Aboriginal Turtle Art

Beyond Affairs of The Heart

Once someone told me
I was not done having affairs
I surmised its meaning
a human touch of warmth
as felt in dreams fleeting

yet years watched me falter
confused with sightless eyes
though clear with seeing
trapped me as blindness nigh

looking beyond lackluster need
striving toward pleasing
to win acceptance
in uncertainty

in platitudes shown vaguely thin
rooted amid trivial detritus
I stepped into an empty life
always out of reach
in plaintive din

I clearly discovered as late
the affairs of life I sought
walked alongside me
each step taken
each breath
of naught

are not affairs of the human kind
nor affairs of a heart of flesh
but an affair of a desperate need
to create missives with words
of light and breadth

that require none but my own
masked eyes to open and see
to cause my own spirit to soar
giving respite to my soul
without fear
nothing more

© February 2019 Renee Espriu

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Beyond Affairs

Brilliant Crystals on Wrought Iron

The stark contrast of white
made of brilliant crystals
against the shiny black
of the wrought iron fence

brings to mind the striking
dichotomy of life’s journey

parallel to my very own
stretching out farther behind
with a shorter distance
forward

being finally alone within
my own skin, my own otherness

a life of contrasting colors
of realizing differences
of trying to fit into
a smaller space
of acceptance

yet in doing so, giving away
pieces of my ‘self’
until I am left wondering
what is left

as I now turn the page
of another chapter
to come facing the mirror
reflecting my own image

do I realize I am now alone
to accept my otherness
my differences

understanding the helix
of the genetics snake
is both the same path taken
of flesh and blood

but also parallel beside
others in my diverseness

is that which makes me unique
both repelling me from
yet pulling me to others

like that of the white crystals
of stark white snow snaking
around bushes, curving ’round
branches and clinging lightly
to the black wrought iron fence

there is a twisting and turning
only barely discernible inside
the double helix of
a strand of genetic DNA

telling me to be accepting
of my otherness even in needing
to be with others

© February 2019 Renee Espriu

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Stark Contrasts

Tarnished Dreams


Dreams follow us down each path tread
whilst children dream of flying free
as the ceiling falls away
to reveal blackest night and stars

other dreams tarnish in light of day
youth is vanquished and vanishes
revealing the harshness of life's littering
dreams hidden beneath its' debris

held in the ire of those who are
envious of those who dare to dream
tethered by a thread stronger
than the spider's woven web and
devoid of a destination

yet it is the ironic situation
they intuit themselves immersed in
as they observe fragments of memory
creeping closer a breath away

delivering the ultimate realization
they too have dreams longing to wake
thirsting for a heart to beat within
which has lain dormant too long
in youth not lost but sleeping

© December 2018 Renee Espriu

The Image Was Taken From Public Domain Pictures
& Created as Art



Flourishes & Whorls

When I first made your acquaintance
my hand wrapped ’round you
and found warmth & light

even though a tiny fragment of cedar
I minded not the lustrous feel of
your soft black carbon
within

as I grasped you time & time again
my muse trembled in anticipation
as she watched gradations of lines
forming

creating magic with loops curving
in every direction
to give life to every breath I
inhaled & exhaled

giving substance to the wind
to the very universe of which
the rotating earth is
contained

with each flourish & curve
you became as putty in my hand
as burning fuel for my muse

whereupon the light of day
merged with the dark of night
transforming sunrises
sunsets

igniting the embers in my soul
within my heart
into a flame

I have kept you close since
that crucial moment
the dawning of
a single
letter

© October 2018 Renee Espriu

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

One Letter

Second Story Longing

Life beside a warp of cement
tucked into rain soaked ground
whilst seeing grass close enough
to touch thru an open window

is not for the faint of heart
nor a feint move made in earnest
to deceive or hide

for I miss second story windows
open to light and breeze
a view of a well traversed bridge
seen as a ribbon slightly
in the distance

with wavy colors of green slicing
thru deepest aegean blue
waters as beneath they flow

as wind tunnel force winds
creating frothy waves
upon its’ surface
create lapping at
sandy rocky shores

I imagine myself there
in the sun

© October 2018 Renee Espriu

My Own Photo Taken and Created as Art

Window