I See You
– Poetry by Linda Lauder – December 28, 2018
Bearing Witness
Ex-husband with new woman;
This one counts.
Words of admiration
Roll off his well-kissed lips.
He gushes her accomplishments.
We’ve been here before.
Later, perhaps in six months,
Or two years from now,
His face will turn from the brilliance of her sun;
Lips parched, words dried up.
Her creativity, her accomplishments
Will hit the wall of his indifference.
Sisters and mothers and friends
Will be witness as she keels off balance,
Clawing wildly with words and actions
Her bound feet searching a crack,
Any foot-hold in the relationship.
He will say,
“She has problems,”
Is, “quite crazy”
Which she begins to believe
And so chases her tail in demented circles,
In loops of seamless conversations
To sisters, mothers and friends,
Clutching Kleenex over steaming tea,
The condiments of relationship analysis.
So it is proven;
She is, what we all become
In frustration, desperation and rage;
A kind of crazy.
Stripped of splendour
Until she too will bear witness
His smooth ability to find someone
Of quality, accomplishment, creativity,
And confuse emotion for madness.
I have my eye on you God
I have my eye on you God
I see you in the light
Under heavy storm clouds.
I see where your spirit
Breaths into a murmuration of Starlings
Dancing in vast skies.
I see your fire in the Northern Lights
Sweeping and pooling vibrant shadows
On a canopy of dark night.
Your movement is perpetual,
Creeping the wind over wheat fields,
Undulating and pulsing over this earth.
I have my ears open, God.
I hear your gentleness lapping, lapping
Lullabies of love on shoreline waters;
I hear the music of wind
Through the open arms of trees,
Their limbs gathering your spirit.
I hear your rage in the darkest thunder
Shaking our world to the core
With fierce wind or sea- swell
Crashing on rock.
For we must pay attention,
Truth is seldom soft and sweet
I have my eye on you God.
Even in desolate places
Where winter has robbed the earth
Of your play,
And the shriveled seed
Lies on dead ground.
Always, always
_ There is renewal.
In air and earth and water,
You vibrate.
You vibrate in us.
The hum of the earth gives you away.
You cannot hide
I have my eye on you God.
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About the Author – Linda Lauder
Born in Sydney, Australia, Linda Lauder set down roots in the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada to raise a family. As a traveller, mother, activist, gardener and caregiver, poetry and the landscape of the ” Bruce” have fed her soul through chaos and beauty to a deeper understanding of life’s journey. She is currently working on publishing a book of poetry.
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