—
‘You, the Artist’
you are colour
this life is a canvas
and we are all artists
but I often stop and wonder
why we dare would choose to squander
our ephemeral moments by never, or barely ever,
staining our brushes in paint pots at all;
doing nothing to fill in the shades of grey
but you
oh you
you who splatters hues
leaving paint smears on your shoes
because you wander through the world
wearing as many colours as you choose
with a laughter tainted yellow
and an old temper tinted black
using charcoal and pastels with tones so mellow,
and graphite pencils, oils and ink
that attack
the senses
you add texture to the world
with the way your mind can think
because you paint pictures with your mind
and I do so hope that in time
that you will see, how clearly,
that your heart is full of colour
—
‘Our Silent Language’
I’ll utter nothing with my lips,
but I’ll keep speaking with my eyes
as I try to come to grips
with what I’ve suddenly realised
how surreal, this thing I feel
all contained within my chest
buckled down behind my breast
as I endeavour to conceal
but then instead you nod your head
yet not a single word I’ve said
because you heard every word
in our silent tongue through which we talk
so side-by-side we’ll pace, we’ll walk;
and I can’t explain, though try I may
how your grin makes the planets spin
how it makes the sun hiccup flares that
stretch out to lick the milky way
but still I simply cannot say
these heart whisperings to you
—but I don’t think that I need to;
so I’ll mutter nothing with my lips
but I’ll keep speaking with my hands
as I try to come to grips
with what I still don’t understand
it’s breathtaking, the way your raking
of your fingers through your hair
can stop me still and make me stare
and smile even while my heart is quaking
and I turn to you, those blue eyes in view
and release a sigh in relieved reply:
I don’t need to speak or sing or sign
(which is good, because I’m shaking);
we don’t need the words to reveal
the sheer extent of love we feel.
—
Poems by Leeza von Alpen
Leeza is a writer and poet (both written and slam), and an English and History high school teacher. In her spare time, she treks through rainforests and star watches. She loves paperbacks, Hayao Miyazaki movies with milkless tea, and puns. You can follow her on Twitter @Leeza_Jayde
—
If you would like to see your work featured for Fiction Friday make sure to check out our submission guidelines and send us your stories and poems. Genre fiction is most welcome.
These are beautiful! I especially loved these lines “how your grin makes the planets spin/how it makes the sun hiccup flares that/stretch out to lick the milky way”. Amazing imagery ♡ and I’m always weak for space-related ones. Is it okay for me to reblog this post?
LikeLike
Hi there. Thanks for the comment – we passed it along to the author.
Feel free to reblog! Thank you for asking.
LikeLike
Great! Hope to see more of the author’s work soon. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on An Undivided Canvas and commented:
Discovered this gem while browsing. Having a poem addressed to artists in general was really inspirational and flattering to readers, and the second poem, The Silent Language, has an amazing choice of words.
LikeLike