Hedy Habra

Or What’s In An Inverted Image?

After Pacifica by Wadada Leo Smith

He often sails

at dawn

lassoes the sun

with a line

strung

with a constellation

of stars

throws rainbows

and slivers

of moon crescents

into

the ocean’s depths

where

all frustrations lie

till layers

and layers of waves

echo

the colors of the rainbow

First published by The Bitter Oleander

From Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? (Press 53 2024)

Expectations

Face to face, standing in an immobile boat, two lovers are enveloped

by a lapis lazuli glow as though out of a painting by Miró revisited

by Klein: the deep sea evaporates around them, freeing a school of

redfish gliding at ease as in an aquarium: only their fins flicker like

fireflies around the nascent crescent, a silent witness to that still scene:

the boy holds a loaf of moon in one hand while in the other shines a

scarlet star, the color of the girl’s bonnet. Slightly bent over his offerings,

she reflects, her crossed hands weighing her breasts heavy with

promises and songs.

First published by Knot Magazine

From Under Brushstrokes (Press 53 2015)

Broken Ladder

After Lastgeving by Hans van der Kroef

I am no longer this little boy who ran away at night to milk the

moon and stars. What am I to do if the ladder is broken, leaving

golden threads dangling in broad daylight, braided rays of hardened

light yet fine as silk spun by a silkworm, once linking me to that lost

site of fearless joys? But I will send back the stardust I fed on for so

long. Now you know why I study the Almanac, waiting for the

right day and time when wheat is ripe, reaching high into those rays

of light. You know why I’m here, in the midst of this field, dressed

in my Sunday clothes: I will pull these gilded chords as those of a

tower bell ringing above beckoning a gift filled with the substance of

dreams, wrapped with Queen Mab’s veils. Don’t fear it is too heavy:

it weighs less than a breath or a sigh. Let the wind blow softly, watch

it rise to the top with your eyes closed.

First published by Pirene's Fountain

From Under Brushstrokes (Press 53 2015)