Five Poems by Sandy Rochelle

 

Grace

 

The silence and sense of grace

caused my breath to drop and deepen.

My heart beat to slow and threaten to stop.

All that I believed in became an illusion.

The earth welcomed me.

And I began again in peace and solitude.

 

 

Disguise

 

My beauty disguises the pain I carry.

Come closer and admire me.

Applaud my mystery.

But only from afar.

My unusual beauty survives in isolation.

Do not touch me  for I shall fall away with human touch.

Admire my unworldly beauty.

My ungodly splendor.

I live in silence.

I thrive by adoration.

I die by touch.

Distance is my ally. 

 

 

Apropos

 

Apropos of nothing.

You speak as if words had yet to be born.

The devil and God compete for the aristocracy.

Otherwise they would have nothing to do.

Only the caterpillar knows how to live and die. 

Embrace me like a happy person.

One with a road map.

To get inside the elephant and crawl through 

The hole in the trunk.

Turtles sell their souls but keep the carapace.

To know what hard really is.

A long walk down dead man's bluff.

Who are we when our skin is transparent.

When the earth is empty.

When hate is reborn in every cell every day.

When grace becomes an automat.

You can look through the window but never touch whats inside.

When you hate the things you love.

When animals are here for the taking.

And the prize bull wins.

When will it really begin.

And how will we know.

Will some mystic save us.

Will saints materialize.

Will the future be every day we live.

And the cobblestones rise up and speak the truth.

 

 

Barren Earth

 

The barren earth speaks no more.

The wilderness accepts our plea.

Forgotten by the sun once promised.

We bow our heads in forbearance and strength.

The love that is inescapable will guide us to the 

Garden we once knew.

How well did you tend your garden.

Our silent  voices know that toil will redeem itself.

Our visions guide our prayers.

The desert is outside.

The garden is within.

How will you tend your garden.

The days will not wither.

The sky will not darken.

The earth will not dim.

The mud that dries our hands.

Is the alchemy that waits unseen.

 

Merlin

As Merlin sang I exchanged my life.

I became a hawk and then an eagle and then an owl.

Wings appeared on the soles of my feet and I took flight.

The tress housed my spirit.

Streams and lakes sprung form the deep and dry earth.

Rocks remembered the day their souls were lost.

The earth meditated.

The only sound was the song the fish whispered

Sandy Rochelle is a widely published poet, actress and filmmaker.

She narrated and produced the Documentary film, 'Artwatch,' about famed art historian James Beck.

She is the recipient of the Autism Society of America's Literary Achievement Award- and hosted the television series, 'On Our Own, winner of the President's Award.  

Her Documentary Film, Silent Journey is streaming  on: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/storyteller/Sandy_Rochelle 

website:  http://sandyrochelle.com

Publications include: Dissident Voice, Poetic Sun, Black Poppy Magazine, Potato Soup Journal, Wild Word, Ekphrastic Review, Every Day Writer, Spillwords Press, Formidable Woman, Impspired, and others.