Laughter of October
Mirth at sunset:
herons scream like children
in the shallows,
golden shafts of light
play with the shadows
of auburn leaves —
Come to me,
stay awhile,
for the laughter of October
is upon my face,
a golden glow,
a raging fire that hides
in the Indian summers
of my heart.
D. G. Vachal © 2012, 2014
Image by digital2 @flickr commons
My Father and the Jasmine Flowers
street waifs
stringing white flowers
into long, fragrant necklaces,
plucked them from the sky
shook them from the tall green bushes
until they fell like rain upon the grass —-
jasmine necklaces sold
for devout señoras to wear
at Flores de Mayo processions
five centavos for all that work,
three
if señoras haggled long enough —-
were you one of the little ones
hands baked by the sun,
wide-eyed,
barefoot,
hungry?
how time comes and leaves
so swiftly
as in half a breath,
as in a hurried dream,
and for whatever
reason there may have been
I came to be —-
older folks would tell me
you walked miles to school,
no centavos for a ride,
and your classmates laughed and sneered
as they rode the bus and passed you by,
you walked on
carrying your dreams
in your heart.
how time comes and leaves
so swiftly
as in half a breath,
as in a hurried dream,
and you are gone —-
tonight
as I recall the tales of folks
from long ago
I drench my pillow
with the fragrant tears
of white jasmine flowers
through the midnight hours,
into the break of dawn.
D. G. Vachal © 2024
Image by Oom Endro @ Pixabay
Beyond the Forgetting
Under the waning moon
and buried light
of forgotten sunsets
stealthy diamonds gleam
in the nebulous sky
but the heart of darkness
roams blind and wild
drowned in flashbacks
of furtive flesh-cuttings
from silent sword slashes —
I dare not ask
nor should you —
beyond the forgetting
billows of white-capped
waves return
birthed
by the half-lit moon.
D. G. Vachal © 2024
Love Haiku 16:18
16
so distant my love
vast are the ocean waters
ours the velvet skies
17
your resonant voice
sound of a longing cello
sparrow’s evening song
18
pathway in moonlight
leads to our familiar hills
trees dance in the night
D. G. Vachal © 2024
Image by Addesia @pixabay
Our Love is Summer’s Fullest Day
awaken with willow warblers at dawn,
pastel ribbons upon dewy grass,
half-awake, half-forgetting dreams
the night before —
faint morning hunger that must be fed,
pearls of light glinting through the windows,
coffee percolates, aroma of baked bread,
warmth served on a round table —
the afternoon oxen plow the hardened soil,
sweat upon the brow, blackbirds
bicker as bees
fierce hunger under the heightened sun —
when cools the twilight down,
softer the laughter and the sighs,
content to hunger at suppertime
our love is summer’s fullest day.
D. G. Vachal © 2024
Image by Guvo59 at Pixabay
lilies, sparrows and grass 
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