Ute Margaret Saine

 

(USA)

 

 

 

FOR DEAR LIFE

 

We are two goldfish

in water we slither and slide

and on dry land

we slip inside each other

like a deck of cards

 

We fit together

like the parts of a landscape

sands streaming from rock

into the crannies of other stones

and in the rain we are roots

penetrating each other

holding on for dear life

 

 

 

NIGHTMARE

 

              inspired by Henry Fuseli

 

When the dream demon

will not take me

the way I am

I give him

room to leave and leeway

a body stretching

static and dreaming

the full length myself

for what I am

in full glory

 

He’s being a demon

minuscule and ugly

a bulging malfeasance

pressing on my sternum

my diaphragm

distressing my clavicle

 

Come day I hope

to soon forget you

de man

shake you off

you petty plutocrat

and go on

my merry ways

 

 

 

HORIZON

 

We are caught

in a confused web

of fact and feeling

 

Lands thought safe and secure

have drifted and absconded

Stories of sentiment with

occasional bits of truth

pierce like sunrays

over the morning horizon

 

In whose middle we

arise from sleep

groping vaguely forward

into a new day

 

I want to be

your deep down-under embrace

your Calypso promise of

the daring and the safe

Lands thought safe and secure

have drifted and absconded

 

 

 

NARCISSA

 

              Narcissiae placandis manibus

              To placate the manes of Narcissa

              Paul Valéry

 

Narcissa

was the young daughter

of the poet of night

Edward Young

Not thinking for once

of cemeteries

so harsh and so soon

her French death

became the bitter surprise

for her father

her non-catholic body

a scandal in a catholic country

 

Denied the proper grave

Narcissa was buried at night

in the botanical garden

of Montpellier

Secretly with local helpers

« in the most secret place »

her father dug into the earth

 

The grave has no name

she disappeared among

blooming flowers

there were perhaps

seasonal narcissus

 

She lies where she belongs

a flower among flowers

nomen est omen: Narcissa

 

Narcissa was the daughter of poet Edward Young, 1683-1765.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BIO

 

Margaret Saine was born in Germany and lives in Southern California.  She writes poetry, haiku, and short stories in five languages, also translating other poets. Her books are “Bodyscapes,” “Words of Art,” 5 haiku chapbooks, and in Germany, the memoir « Ungeschicktes Kind » [Awkward Child] and the book of poems « Das Flüchtige bleibt” [The Ephemeral Remains].  Additional poetry mss. are “The Five Senses,” “Reading Your Lips, » « A Love in Winter » and « Wherefore. » (tbp).  Her poetry has also been published in Italy, Jordan, India, and the Philippines.