The Mystery of Words

There can be a tempest within my soul
on days where I’m unable to see the light
from a sun that is surely bathing me
in the heated glow of its’ rays

yet there are those days when the rays
of brilliance from that same sun radiate
through me and fill the day with bird song

song that touches every living creature’s
being with two legs to four legs to none
for even the tree feels the vibrations
in trunks, branches and fluttering leaves

leaving me in awe of it all, of the mystery
of the unnoticed brilliance of communication
the musical enhanced scores all around us

those are the days I again recall the words
whose magic enables me to speak from my heart
where the wordsmith rises again within my soul
a mystery e’er but the ocean tempest is stilled

© August 2021 Renee Espriu
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

All The Wonder

Light reveals as much as we allow it to
when we open not only our eyes
but our heart

then our spirit soars and life
takes on new meaning

where colors are no longer dull
in shades of gray
but filtered brilliance

as in a rainbow after
a storm

it opens up a place deep
within our soul

big enough to hold all
of the wonder

where there are no boundaries
this place is us
me and you

this place is where life
flourishes

this is where I can begin
to know and accept
who I am

© September 2019 Renee Espriu

Image Below Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

The Alchemy of Water

Music swells up like mighty ocean waves
cleansing the sadness of my soul
permeating my thoughts
to quell the firestorm
within my mind

to which my dreams find me walking
along a sandy tided shore
each grain of sand sparkling
diamonds in a beam
of moonlight

a vestige matching my footprints
each one a solid reflection
of a path only I have walked
in heartache, despair
& triumph

before the salty brine of tides
comes to collect them again
to assuage each painful step
becoming an alchemist balm
a freeing spirit

© August 2019 Renee Espriu
Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As 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

Bits of Wisdom

Even as the common brown squirrel
senses that temperate weather
is at hand

digging in earnest for small nuts
he has hidden, his eyes
are eager with expectation
at the treasure
he will find

I now forage for bits of wisdom
left timely for my discovery
still visible in the space
of invisible footsteps
laid before me

noticing that as the sun’s rays
enhance the squirrel’s
brown coat of fur
a brilliant bright spot
against green

wisdom comes from all venues
even the most young
at heart

counseling me to heed not
others’ paths in life
for mine is my own
uniquely woven

so that I find the bits of wisdom
I seek are within, not without
but in the mirror
of my soul

the need to shine brightly
to touch every moment
that is only
within my
own grasp

© February 2019 Renee Espriu

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Soul Reflections

Dreaming of Change

Dreams live within our sleeping hours
touching our waking time
some slightly caressing
barely touching

while others create undulating pain
creating harbingers of fear
of longing and want

all innately attached to spirits
woven tightly inside our souls
like tiny invisible creatures
tugging and pulling
this way
and that

whispering changes in our ears
then shouting in our faces
when we refuse to hear

leveling the playing ground
like a bulldozer
passing through

for change always prevails
beginning as a dream
touching our skin
like a wisp of breeze

© February 2019 Renee Espriu

Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Changes and Dreams

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

“Nature’s Paramour”

If each star is a point of reference
three triangular shapes
with each point lingering
a distance unknown

Where my soul rests before
each journey sought

Then nature is my paramour
from snow glacial
mountain peaks

The highest peaks
touched gently
by wispy
cloud fingers

Whose icy interludes
might be reminiscent
of tiny sugar crystals
sweet upon the tongue

Whose unexpected avalanche
transports me unaware
to the mossy green bed
in a distant
forest glen

Whereupon, I will in secret see
a thunderous waterfall
of rainbow colored hues
brilliantly lit
by sun rays

The mist of the water
touches my skin
a sheen of droplets
translucent

Smitten I become
as the sound of bird song
and the fragrance
of meadow flowers
drift to me
upon
the
wind

© August 2018 Renee Espriu

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

Love of Nature

Sweet Layers of Imagination

Imagination

There are moments I believe
that de’ja’ vu really does exist
when I walk into another world,
an alternate landscape

to escape my obsessed compulsion
crafting a skewed vision filled
with black and white reality

ethereal as stepping on solid clouds
drifting over a technicolor scene
where a yellow brick road
leads to perspicacity
strangely curious

or yet upon closing my eyes
I sleep so deep imagination unfolds
in sweetest layers I inhale
swallowing each one
anxious for
the next

beautiful as pastillage
settling on my tongue
like honey

I see a girl who speaks to trees,
smiling at flowers who
innately knows
her secrets

and where the eyes of animals
reflect her soul
back to her in
infinite profusions
of color

painting details like the spices
completing ingredients
in foods from everywhere
smelling of a full life
in every inhaled
breath

where upon touching a mirror
she steps through liquid mercury
pure as water chaste
before rigidity touches
her image
with age

yet these images might be to me
only lucid as a million stars
in the night sky where
Zeus holds court

only quick
in twilight hours
before I wake

© June 2018 Renee Espriu