INDEX OF POEMS by Fabio Gratton Boy and His Pen Desert Trains Neruda's Pia Moon over Sun Ocean Grave Pia But I will never forget Please send thoughts or comments to skypen@aol.com Return to Main Index
THE BOY AND HIS PEN The boy at the table holds a pen in his hand And thinks of his mother Their home, They tore it down And took her away; The boy at the table fights tears and Pours words into a cup. He takes his pen for a stroll, Then lets it loose The pen finds the cup, stops to drink Drawing words like bricks Builds a palace Outside the rain continues to fall Umbrellas stroll in the canopy of clouds The sky darkens And the boy sits patiently with his pen, Waiting for mother to come home So he can seal her into his castle of words.RETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX DESERT TRAINS In times of deep sadness We write songs that sound like birds scattering Or card-castles falling; Songs that yearn for poetry But stop short to the scream of brakes On rusted rails. We yearn for rose gardens That peel lemon sunlight from our words; We yearn for voices like mother’s hands That trace gentle lines of sorrow in a face, That lift tears like a desert sun And park trains like sand in an oasis.RETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX NERUDA'S PIA Pia, the name of a star or a wind, sand That falls through the air like green snow; The song of a face that unfastens its wings Lashes of silk that sigh with the night. Pia, a name sculpted from bronze. A red marble rounded by rain; A pebble of dew that slips from a limb Pierces my skin and awakens my roots. Pia, the name of a lake in the sky. A palace of ice that drifts like a wave; A whirlpool of light that cries with the owls A mother calling her son in the rain.RETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX MOON OVER SUN You carried your smile On the wings of your brows Sprinkling bread- Crumb glitter winks So we could all find Our way home. Despite a fear of inadequacy You filled our life with courage (Passed off as wisdom) You launched us into the world To blow boulders like feathers We sealed our covenant Over many meals And coffee tables Nursing with great concern The world’s inequities None too small Or too far from home The world was a weight You vowed to carry (This was a secret) You were once a little girl Taught the hard way Water won’t extinguish all fires. So you laughed when it hurt Screamed when you loved Eventually We all caught on. You fixed in the mirror The diamond That would make us all Whole again (You did it!) We never knew That your beauty Would be eclipsed By your spirit.RETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX OCEAN GRAVE You soared like a white dove into the sun Were struck like a flower through a shining shield Fell from the mirror of the moon & sealed Into the roots of a long-stemmed rose. Your ashes, slivers of brittle glass dispersed Into the mire of fiery tide blown Spilled through the fingers of a silver foam Buried in the sand by a soundless wave. A palace of volcanic coral bares your epitaph An ancient pyramid of bloodied stone: “I rode white horses when alive, And now their wings cement my home”.RETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX PIA You caught the sun Your bright eyes tossed it Lit up the world and never looked back You kissed the moon Taught it to dance Moved the stars in the sky with a samba You sang the rain Moved clouds to tears Left the sky where you walked a slate of blue You held my hand Taught me to walk With a dream in my heart and a love for youRETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET i found her glasses in her purse with prescriptions she will never fill again for the books she will never read with them like the pantyhose in the drawers she will never slip into again or dresses she will never put over them for parties she will never attend with friends like the car in the garage she will never drive again 2 months old not even 2000 miles with pictures picked up that day in the back-seat along with my ten year-old sister’s electronic game & school cut & pastes a small black hair pin in the glove compartment that my brother did not want to move that my grandmother cried over that i ran through my fingers until i broke for the hair she will never put up again when she never drives her red car again to never take my little sister to school again who will never have a mother to see what she makes in art class again or never be scolded when her electronic games beep too much for the headaches my mom will never have again like the boxes of pictures she will never put away the pictures of her & us & a life that will never be put away though my father will try slipping them into the pages of photo-albums that will never be complete because we are not complete we are crippled & the pictures will turn old but she will never be forty-eight & never see my children & never go to chile & never open the presents i will never buy her for the christmas’ i will never spend with her & i will never understand why my mom is gone & gone to where & how someone could be so evil & kill her in cold blood on halloween night in the dark basement of a building where my mother will never scream again so i will never know the intimacy of so many words & touches & i will never understand this but i know she was my mom & she loved me & i loved her & now i must heal & yes forgive & forgive god forgive fate & forgive even the madman who will live eternally with his soul to the flame.RETURN TO POEM INDEX RETURN TO MAIN INDEX