For a Moment I Saw

When I first looked

I saw sumptuous swirls of colour

so rich and textured it

seemed as if I could

lift  them off the page.

 

Then she said

Do you see?

And I saw

 

I saw scarlet lions playing

on a cobalt blue savannah,

Flame-coloured dolphins

somersaulting in a chartreuse sea.

 

I saw tangerine birds

circling crimson trees

to dive-bomb

chuckling turquoise hyenas.

 

I saw stripy violet monkeys

with saffron tails

and ruby unicorns

racing burgundy zebras

 

I saw the two of us

riding an ebony dragon

Into an indigo sunrise.

 

Do you see? she said

And for a moment I saw.

 

 

 

 

 

(c) Michèle A.L. Barzey 2010

Birmingham Artsfest

Poetry performance.

Saturday 11th September 11.00 – 11.30 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Gallery 33

Poetry workshop

Saturday 11th September 15.30 – 16.30 BBC Public Space at the Mailbox

http://www.artsfest.org.uk/search/?search=afrobehn&search-action.x=36&search-action.y=14

The Forum

If you are in the North Birmingham area you can listen to ‘ The Forum’ on Switch Radio 107.5 FM.

Tonight at 7-9pm I’m one of the guests. Listen in for topical debate, new music and a quiz.

Radio Appearance

I read some of my poems on the lunchtime programme  The Crumble on the 16th July. To listen to the show visit http://www.rhubarbradio.com/programmes/crumble/

Stuffed Too

Last night I dreamt I was free.

Under a moonlit sky

I flew against the wind,

glided on the clouds, and

hunted among the trees.

 

Today, and all my tomorrows

I have nothing but time

to stand and stare,

to watch you stalking,

stick-thin,

high-heeled,

and

lipsticked.

aspiring to be a WAG

within a prison of your own making.

 

 

 

© Michèle A.L. Barzey

 

cf. ‘Stuffed’ posted March 2009

Warstorm

First came the wind,

whistling through the woods,

sounding the last post,

for those who could no longer hear.

 

Then came the hail,

too late to sound the retreat,

soon enough to pound the flesh,

of those who could no longer feel.

 

The rain came last,

to wash the blood into the soil,

leaving the fallen behind,

bathed and ready,

for their shroud of autumn leaves.

 

 

 

© Michèle A.L. Barzey

I’ve Stopped to Listen

I’ve stopped.

To listen to the voices is more than I can bear.

They mutter constantly, quietly, subtly.

They suck me dry and drown out

the voices of those who try to reach me.

 

I’ve stopped.

In this ward, I will no longer be.

I will wake and I will walk

but I will not be me.

 

 

©Michèle A.L.Barzey 2010

Sinai

 

Ten thousand years after Moses

stormed up the mountain,

I sit and wait for the sun.

 

Before tonight I pictured the desert in the

bland yellows of my childhood bible.

But now, in the multi-coloured beauty of a mountain sunrise,

I see that there is more to faith than one shade,

and that here, on this mountain,

my faith is enough.

 

 

 

 

© Michèle A.L Barzey 2010

Language is Impossible

Language is impossible,

unpredictable,

hard to pin down.

The words you speak are not what I hear

so we must find other ways to comminicate.

Show me who you are

and I will hear your voice.

© Michèle A.L. Barzey

Relaunch

I will be relaunching this site on April 18th 2010.

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