Cold and loneliness All light bulbs unscrewed, The electric heater is off, In television’s flicker light Now she wants With a better job she Walking in the snow The snow is melting Without a light bulb
are in the room,
snow outside
with paw prints
neither love nor
the electric bill
can not be seen
in television’s flicker light
snowflakes lugubrious
paw prints gone
she sees valleys
rice fields, swamp
jungle,
sees a tiger lunge
watches deer in dense leaves,
seizes a moment to
witness a Himalayan climb
peeks at peaks;
all these
she has seen
on TV
an automated
computerized
rice cooker
beyond Thimpu,
perhaps she
can get this and more –
see a movie about dragons who
watch soap operas and speak Hindi
meditates upon
sad weekends
awaiting inspiration
she goes to work
to work on herself
inside
and she is
warming
inside
or a rice cooker
she will return
when the snow falls
in Thimpu again
to dance
in the snow
with a lover
—- Douglas Gilbert
(Henry Le Châtelier)
Archive for January, 2008
Where Do Dragons in Bhutan Hunt?
Blue Sheep In Bhutan
Have I sinned I have heard Scampering up cliffs Snow leopards Kayaking down the Mochhu Blue is clean Prayer flags on the mountain Can I sing the blues must I be the tiger
to love snow leopards
rock-and-roll
and blues too
blue sheep make me cry
freezing to hide
must eat –
I will not look
I see only splash
only sky
red I deny
let me be of slate color
hiding my friends
in the sorrow of the lamb
with only wool to give
in cold comfort, or
to growl at my hunger
to dominate
—- Douglas Gilbert
(Henry Le Châtelier)
Torn By Love
Meager is the cry
of the baby, but
I have tried
not to tear
your torn tissues,
must ask your permission.
Grandmother,
I search for an amulet
to bring you
to soothe you. My
being is torn.
A girl of charm
not of tradition
is in my life, but
I am torn
by love
by being
Grandmother,
I do not wish
to be a tear of the eye
to streak a bloody torn cloth.
I am torn
by love
by being
Though meager was my cry
when you lost your daughter,
I have tried to be a prayer
for you and
for your daughter
Born of your
cries and screams
I pray
Grandmother,
you are
my precious Mother.
What charm may I bring you?
May I pray
for your daughter?
I wish I
had known her,
not caused
her death
though meager was my cry
I am torn
by love
by being.
Meet me
as I am
with gifts
with meager charms.
Grandmother,
there is a girl
who wishes to be
a woman with me.
I am torn
by love
by meetings.
I pray in
many ways
we will all
grow together,
born into love
with your blessings.
Grandmother,
cry me into life
beyond tradition.
I am torn
by love
by meetings.
Meet me
and her, your
new born-in-law, for
Loud and thunderous
is the cry of happiness
Join us in the rain,
Grandmother
—- Douglas Gilbert
(Henry Le Châtelier)
Order "The Xyiwa Poets" by Douglas Gilbert by clicking on photo
Poetry Books By Douglas Gilbert
Drop Apart
Lucky to be I shall be Would we want to be and know everything all at once? I think we draw boundaries around pieces of “everything”. The part of us that is the observer can not observe itself at any given moment. To be anything is to not be the whole. To be the whole is to be nothing(not individual).
a drop
and not
the ocean
in a cloud
for you, for
better a plink
on a cheek
than a washout
—- Douglas Gilbert
(Henry Le Châtelier)
