Painting Words

"Forgotten Dream" see ARTIST'S PAGE

A Language I Cannot Speak Without You

--Zen Oleary

There are earthquakes in me,
shivers of anticipation,
that disorient the day and
send me stumbling to
the edge of tomorrow.

I shout your name
across this abyss I cannot see
and listen for incoming echoes.

I wait for you like a seed
waits for rain or
a leaf thirsts for sunlight
or a bird lusts for grubs.

My eyes paint you in my mind,
your image strung on banners
streamed out of sky-writing planes,
whorled in rising thunder clouds.

I hear you in the graveled roars
of truck engines, the growls of lions,
the whispered buzz of bees.

I feel you in my blood, my breath
and the longing in my bones.

You have infiltrated and overtaken me
even in your absence till
you've turned me into a language
I cannot speak without you.