tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9536021906759886992024-02-20T12:34:30.769-08:00verona iristhe painter's poet
<br>writings from onna hui<br>onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-22779224960034876862015-11-03T22:56:00.006-08:002021-12-30T17:26:19.641-08:00Autumnal RiseHe stands close to the shore<br />
feet just almost touching the water <br />
He faces the sky and sea<br />
stares into the distance<br />
and I wonder where it is his eyes take him,<br />
I wonder <br />
is it to the same place where I seem to find<br />
myself wandering <br />
sometimes without so much a trail to lead me back<br />
to the nowhere from which I come<br />
I stretch out my legs <br />
I watch from up nigh, at the cliffside<br />
skin weathered and tinged with rose<br />
her autumnal rise<br />
I inhale, then let it out slowly<br />
perhaps a breath, perhaps a cry welled from deep within <br />
the taste of salt lingers on my lips<br />
Sound of waves running into each other<br />
the echoes of birds in flight<br />
and I look at him<br />
wondering if he and I are lost all the same.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-65650182773171692712015-11-03T22:56:00.000-08:002015-11-03T22:57:24.648-08:00Tres NochesBright is the company of a thousand stars<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
the eternal letters that spill from a sky of the deepest India ink</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They roam through the endlessness that is night</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
and romance the unmoving with a consciousness as stirring </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
as the heavens for which they announce</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They convict in their illuminating, perpetuating silence</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
as our eyes wander heavenward, soliciting Him who hears the</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
quiver in our prayers, the tremble on our lips</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Among the gold dots of this celestial map, </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
our thoughts travel and we ruminate.</div>
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-38400138287129548172015-11-03T22:55:00.000-08:002015-11-03T22:57:31.076-08:00Quiet Somewhere'Tis quiet somewhere.<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Still. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Where the mind empties her tragedies</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
and the spirit tarries peacefully until the morrow,</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
where messengers of woe gain no entry </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
and languid travelers lay rest among the swallows.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A land I dream of nightly,<br />
a dream I wait on daily.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Alas,<br />
'tis quiet here, my love</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
we shall fall asleep now.</div>
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-23169632972738288152015-07-06T17:31:00.000-07:002015-07-06T17:36:43.044-07:00BorrowedDeliver the wild ocean, her salt water tears<br />
a June moon and whispering stars<br />
to a landing place west of the Carolinas<br />
sit with me in a borrowed hour of languor<br />
sit with me in stilled reprieve <br />
Time will move in slowly, casually<br />
wander barefoot toward<br />
the past until it is no longer present<br />
as this quiet state of sapphire<br />
undresses before our wicker chairs, then <br />
disappears.<br />
<br />onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07966727651362876205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-53261558649382309622015-07-05T22:54:00.000-07:002015-07-05T22:54:21.423-07:00OurOur forest<br />
our redwoods and pines<br />
Our treehouse<br />
our limbs intertwined<br />
Our quiet, our haven<br />
Our stow away from the noise, which abounds <br />
loudly below<br />
deafening, ever threatening<br />
In our place above<br />
alone<br />
we let down our guards<br />
for each other.<br />
<br />onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07966727651362876205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-90434604057974527432015-04-26T19:25:00.000-07:002015-04-26T19:27:24.953-07:00BodyO River<br />
I trouble you for one night's dip <br />
as my parched soul aches for<br />
a drown in your body's deepest quarters<br />
Blistering summer heat deludes<br />
imaginary golden orchards o'er thy sparkling springs <br />
As I lie next to you, in the lush shallows of your<br />
neighboring flower bed<br />
I peer upward at our celestial company<br />
The steady hum of your breathing<br />
lulling these eyelids to heaviness<br />
and before I drift away into the forever place <br />
I make one last request:<br />
Cover my naked body<br />
its bleeding sores<br />
with the softness of your<br />
blue lullabies.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07966727651362876205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-19281448914472777582015-04-05T23:15:00.001-07:002015-04-28T19:15:28.405-07:00VesselRemove the moon<br />
remove the stars<br />
wash thin their blinding glow<br />
Weathered four-chamber vessel<br />
birthed from the ocean's womb<br />
returning to sea<br />
moving in slow, quiet agony<br />
The unlit night<br />
its unsung victories<br />
Through the darkness it journeys<br />
into it, it moves gradually<br />
Where the midnight sky<br />
melts into a body of ebony<br />
and a divider, there is not<br />
Tis where this vessel will come undone<br />
lay down its final sail<br />
and surrender to the currents of an awaiting<br />
Maker<br />
Smaller it grows as it travels further<br />
from sight and shore<br />
until it blends O ever seamlessly<br />
into distant earth<br />
Traceless, still<br />
forever floating<br />
in the vastness of night and sea.<br />
<br />onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07966727651362876205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-55305500626526415152015-03-28T17:06:00.001-07:002015-03-28T17:06:27.520-07:00The IllustrationWe reached into the universe, this large open space above<br />
our heads, in a room of no more than 400 square feet.<br />
We imagined our stars, their galaxies and constellations.<br />
We drew an entire evening sky with our fingertips.<br />
He outlined a crescent moon among the specks of glowing<br />
light, and I closed my eyes to see clearly our illustration.<br />
<br />
It was brilliant.<br />
<br />
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07966727651362876205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-60584456169098572412015-03-28T17:00:00.000-07:002015-04-26T15:12:21.978-07:00Magnolia TreeMagnolias sailing through an<br />
endless body of cerulean<br />
A melodious string of delicate notes<br />
floating freely through the amber<br />
Impending sorrows of future moments<br />
temporarily suspended in the<br />
observation of dancing, blossoming<br />
white palms.<br />
<br />onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07966727651362876205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-26587606346990544762014-03-16T22:01:00.000-07:002014-08-05T21:25:12.151-07:00The Imagining<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>She once wrote about a space teetering on the edge of absolute rawness: concrete flooring, exposed brick walls, overly tall windows, and high ceilings. On a separate occasion, he also imagined a space quite similar in nature. A place with an open floor plan and only a Japanese folding screen separating the industrial living space from the intimacy of a single bed tucked away in the corner. When he told her about this, she saw her own imagining change slightly. She no longer only saw herself in it, but she saw him in it, too. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>She saw them together.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>She saw an empty space surrounded by nothingness. Nothingness was all they ever wanted, all they ever needed. Because everything they wanted and needed was in each other. It was morning. Natural light made its way through the sectioned window panes and onto his pale skin, her tanned skin, their bare skin. They were living in their own filtered projection. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>They were lying in a bed of wrinkled white sheets, creased by the previous night. They welcomed the quietness of unspoken emotions. There was nothing separating him from her, her from him. His body, which was the perfect amount of heaviness, moved over hers and she shifted her weight to let him in completely. She lifted her right hand and ran her fingers slowly down the side of his face. He gently swept her hair to the side and they stared at each other without saying a word. In that moment, time stood still for them. They were together. They were in love. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><i>They were complete. </i>They laid in their white bed for hours. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
--- </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
You deserve to find love, to be loved, and to live in love.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I wish you all the light in the universe.</div>
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-17054356081512671232014-03-12T16:26:00.001-07:002014-03-12T16:26:13.109-07:00Mister HoudiniHe tiptoed into the garden most unexpectedly<br />
with a rucksack of well-versed lines<br />
and a pocket full of posies<br />
He unlatched her iron gate with stealth as great <br />
as the greatest unknown operative<br />
charmed her with his sarcastic wits, bits, and a number of tricks<br />
She let him into her bed of begonias<br />
where they exchanged wild dreams and well-kept secrets<br />
When they laughed, the earth shared in their happiness and<br />
the universe painted a few more stars above their mortal bodies <br />
He gradually became her heart's trusted gardener<br />
a company for whom she extolled<br />
Then, just as quickly as he entered through those iron gates<br />
he disappeared into the world outside<br />
swift like a thief in the night<br />
Took his treasure and bag of loot<br />
and exited the garden without saying a word<br />
She suppressed her cries in that first hour<br />
simply gathered the trampled flowers and looked around at the aloneness<br />
with which she was left once again<br />
And it was then she gave way to their reality<br />
her garden, once so pure and void of harm's way<br />
had fallen prey to the condition of a speeding heart<br />
Like rain and thunder storming the earth in the midst of winter<br />
she felt the harshness of her disposal<br />
for the truth was she had been disposable to him<br />
He left like the best of vanishing acts<br />
and the greatest of all magicians<br />
Mister Houdini, yes, Mister Houdini, you are<br />
frightening indeed. <br />
<br />onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-54933646996725174022014-03-03T23:12:00.000-08:002014-03-03T23:12:36.964-08:00Love GameHe stared at her.<br />
<br />
They sat at the edge of his bed exchanging silent smiles, neither<br />
one moving. Eventually, she inched toward him. She wrapped her<br />
legs around his waist. The warmth of his body felt like static to her<br />
cold skin.<br />
<br />
He ran his fingers through strands of her damp hair. The sweet scent<br />
of milk and roses from her shower lingered in the space between them.<br />
<br />
He hesitated for a brief moment. "I love you," he murmured. His<br />
voice was soft, but firm.<br />
<br />
It wasn't that she did not hear him. She did. With his words<br />
suspended in air, she turned away. When she turned back to look at<br />
him, her expression had changed. The corners of her mouth<br />
reluctantly curled upward into a sad smile.<br />
<br />
"No, I'm afraid you do not."<br />
<br />
"Yes, I do."<br />
<br />
She leaned over and whispered into his ear, "But it's not love." With<br />
that, she unwound herself from him. He held onto her.<br />
<br />
"How can you say that with such certainty?"<br />
<br />
"Because I am certain."<br />
<br />
"How?"<br />
<br />
"Because all of this"--she motioned at him, at her, at their surroundings--<br />
"is only pretend."<br />
<br />
---<br />
Originally written in 2012<br />
Published in 2014<br />
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-89175280859769741652014-02-28T12:31:00.000-08:002014-02-28T12:38:04.583-08:00Paper CranePaternal rumble<br />
I hear your voice <br />
anchoring the moment like a ship in an abyss<br />
all hands on deck<br />
that's what you said to me<br />
And there we were, younger than we gave ourselves<br />
credit for<br />
lighting dreams like firecrackers on the new year<br />
folding alive paper lions, tigers, and cranes <br />
<br />
And then you left<br />
flew above the trees you made us draw <br />
and I was left<br />
with the things that I did not say, things I could not say<br />
because I was convinced<br />
a flood of better days was coming and<br />
denial got in the way of the truth<br />
that you were leaving<br />
and I choked on the words that were swimming in my mind<br />
Like a dozen of koi fishes fighting in a shallow pond<br />
they couldn't make their way to the surface in time<br />
<br />
Oolong, Hennessy cognac, and menthol<br />
your scent was unlike any other <br />
I've pocketed it for keeps<br />
take it out occasionally<br />
to fill the space of this gaping hole you left<br />
<br />
I hope you are well and enjoying eternity<br />
I fold this paper crane and send it your way<br />
with a pack of your favorite peppermint starlights<br />
<br />
Safe sailing to forever, Grandfather.<br />
You are greatly missed.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-29347196528875762014-02-23T23:42:00.001-08:002015-04-01T22:50:44.508-07:00The CrutchSome say faith is a crutch for the weak-minded. I do not believe<br />
that to be true. I propose faith is an enabler--an enabler to do what<br />
we couldn't do if we were left to ourselves. onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-56817707513404186612014-02-22T11:16:00.000-08:002014-02-22T11:16:18.126-08:00Lukewarm<div style="text-align: justify;">
With the sound of the faucet running, she closed her eyes and patted<br />
her face wet. She remembered the passion-plum walls, the black<br />
accents, and their ability to swallow her entire existence. She
recollected the<br />
rolling scenes of a darkened evening sky, occasionally saturated by low-lit,<br />
awkward orange street bulbs. She recalled leaning against the bathroom door<br />
frame and watching the shifting imagery project across her large bedroom<br />
window and cast shadows onto the ceiling. Like an old film reel. <br />
Sirens. Periodic shouts. It was beautiful, all of
it. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
She turned off the faucet.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
--</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Originally published in 2011</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Revised in 2014 </div>
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-83401531670468819232014-02-21T23:04:00.000-08:002014-02-21T23:04:03.811-08:00The Condition<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We met on the first evening of autumn that year. The months </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
following were spent in laughter, exploration, dance, and late-night </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
sharing of each other's life story.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Then one day he said to me, "This can be forever if we let it." His </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
words were heavy, though genuine. Yet somehow, I was unconvinced </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
of us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I polished off a glass of fizzy. I picked at some invisible lint on my </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
black jeans. How faded they were in the unmasked light.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He reached for my hand. I reached for something on the end table--</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
perhaps an excuse, perhaps another reason to continue being without </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
a permanent condition.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We didn't talk for a few days. We didn't see each other for a week. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Eventually, it became a month. Then a year passed. Autumn came </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
and went.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yesterday marked the fifth year of our obsoletion. I heard he married </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
a pretty gal and started a family. They are living somewhere overseas </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
now. He fancies her very much. That is all I know.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We could have been each other's forever. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But I didn't believe it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I didn't allow myself to believe it, or to believe him. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These days, autumn only reminds me of what I no longer have.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Forever.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
---</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Originally written in 2012</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Edited and published in 2014</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-26582166103694255632014-02-09T20:03:00.001-08:002014-02-09T20:47:45.392-08:00Her Eden<br />
Swinging on a tree<br />
Branches strong in bark and leaves<br />
She rocks back and forth<br />
<br />onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-88432465019251652272011-09-25T23:02:00.001-07:002014-02-22T11:19:29.731-08:0009.23.2011Autumn came today.<br />
She knocked on my door and we embraced each other.<br />
When I had to leave for my 9-5 obligation, she blew kisses, which my cheeks caught;<br />
the touch of her breath against my morning skin was as crisp as I remembered it to be. <br />
Along my drive back home, I found one of her leaves wedged between my windshield<br />
wipers--a love note.<br />
<br />
I'm glad she's here for the next three months.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-38964902976164154452011-04-04T19:38:00.000-07:002011-04-04T23:53:03.909-07:00PostmanLet not the clock stop<br />
or he won't arrive <br />
For when those <br />
rhythmic hands stand still<br />
the postman dies.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-19136369517728679842011-02-17T13:19:00.000-08:002011-02-17T13:19:25.956-08:00PreservationThere is a lullaby that sings to my hollow shell <br />
her tune whose haunting melody <br />
sounds off in measures and chords: <br />
<br />
Lie awake in a bed of lies<br />
for self-preservation, I preserve<br />
the preservation of the worse kind.<br />
Killer kills the weak<br />
Self-preservation saves the strong.<br />
Here in a bed of lies, I sink unto sleep.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-5053916099541327772010-12-08T17:09:00.000-08:002010-12-08T17:09:32.403-08:00WillowPaint the wagon red<br />
Paint the picket fence white<br />
Paint the soil fertile and moist<br />
Paint the willow weeping.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-43718624413749831792010-12-06T21:13:00.000-08:002015-04-22T19:11:45.494-07:00Funeral and a BirthdayCarcasses on the interstate<br />
birthday cake and candles<br />
Minister bows his head for prayer <br />
Horns honking, pinatas twirling<br />
balloons float away<br />
Stickers on their windows<br />
cake in their stomachs<br />
Funeral and a birthday.<br />
<br />
--<br />
Originally written and published in 2010<br />
Revised in 2015 onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-51012755083969639332010-12-02T23:22:00.000-08:002015-10-25T23:59:30.710-07:00ShowersThrough my hair, onto my back<br />
down my legs<br />
trickling beads of warmth<br />
Flushed body, oblong porcelain coffin<br />
Orange light outside; tense, small<br />
Showers are coming.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-19146865575232544002010-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:002014-02-09T22:00:28.385-08:00Catcher, Catch HerOne disappeared, then another disappeared<br />
Twenty-six years traveled past these waned eyes<br />
and developed a masochist <br />
counting existences that once were, hollow now<br />
Numbed flesh, traveling in one of two directions<br />
Vessels lie underneath layers of dirt, ashes stored in urns<br />
but their souls, only Father knows<br />
Rich Man & Lazarus asking to be heard<br />
grapple, grapple with pattern reoccurrences<br />
Butterflies dancing between the flapping sheets hung out to dry<br />
on the clothespin line<br />
catch a short glimpse of beautiful colored wings<br />
and then, mortal humanness; metamorphosis; oblivion<br />
Porridge and biscuits bring the children home, sweet cottage nearby<br />
Eat the morsels quickly before they turn gold<br />
Leaving their muddied soles at the wide gate<br />
young ones wear their innocence out to play<br />
in the meadow they sing, they age<br />
they run past the graveyard of bodies.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953602190675988699.post-47100680393514334022010-11-23T00:59:00.000-08:002010-11-23T11:18:19.083-08:00Somewhere YonderWhen my time is called up yonder<br />
and my weakened, deteriorating vessel lays again<br />
with the crushed leaves and dirt of a fallen Mother Earth,<br />
shed no tears for me. <br />
The demons cannot reach me here; I am safe. <br />
My soul has found its permanent home in my Father's house.<br />
Peace engulfs my once heavy heart; fear persists no more.<br />
And when the next rain falls,<br />
catch the drop that kisses your cheek <br />
and know that my ashes swirl in the path of this wind to reach you<br />
with a message I fought to send long ago:<br />
life has finally freed her prisoner.onna huihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369207145704524570noreply@blogger.com