Poetry lives in the silence between Lines
POEMS BY AVANTI NIODING
By the Snail’s Silver Trail
Where do you go tonight my darling?
“I’m tired father. I want to get away.”
Stay with me tonight my darling.
“I must run father, before it’s too late.”
“I’m tired father. I want to get away.”
Stay with me tonight my darling.
“I must run father, before it’s too late.”
Out she ran into the dark
Into the night’s cold, cold air.
One would think she had wings
She ran where no one else dared.
Across the driveway, through Sally’s backyard.
Of the ‘Beware-of-Dog’ sign, she was not afraid.
She ran until she had reached
The snail’s secret silver trail.
An owl hooted, a shadow crossed
Flashing absinthine eyes at her.
But she ran, she flew, she dare not stop
She knew the green eyes pursued her.
Up the trail beside the creek,
Into the still silver night’s hollow,
“Don’t wait for me Father,” she prayed,
“I will not be home tomorrow.”
Lights were out in the little windows.
Steps to their secret doors lay bare.
No moss no blossoms were laid out tonight.
She slipped and stumbled, through moonlit air.
She was too late, they had left.
They had left without a word or whisper,
Without a warning, a note, or a letter,
They had all departed without her.
Iridescent wings floated downstream
Her sinking heart she clutched in despair
She fumbled inside the fairy ring
And came not home the next day
“Let me be Father, let me lie by the pixie ring.
Resurrection will wait for tomorrow, judgement will wait for another deed.
Let me be Father, let me be by the hollow’s creek.
I wish not to awaken tomorrow, I’ll dream to a hush of elfin sleep.”
Into the night’s cold, cold air.
One would think she had wings
She ran where no one else dared.
Across the driveway, through Sally’s backyard.
Of the ‘Beware-of-Dog’ sign, she was not afraid.
She ran until she had reached
The snail’s secret silver trail.
An owl hooted, a shadow crossed
Flashing absinthine eyes at her.
But she ran, she flew, she dare not stop
She knew the green eyes pursued her.
Up the trail beside the creek,
Into the still silver night’s hollow,
“Don’t wait for me Father,” she prayed,
“I will not be home tomorrow.”
Lights were out in the little windows.
Steps to their secret doors lay bare.
No moss no blossoms were laid out tonight.
She slipped and stumbled, through moonlit air.
She was too late, they had left.
They had left without a word or whisper,
Without a warning, a note, or a letter,
They had all departed without her.
Iridescent wings floated downstream
Her sinking heart she clutched in despair
She fumbled inside the fairy ring
And came not home the next day
“Let me be Father, let me lie by the pixie ring.
Resurrection will wait for tomorrow, judgement will wait for another deed.
Let me be Father, let me be by the hollow’s creek.
I wish not to awaken tomorrow, I’ll dream to a hush of elfin sleep.”
House of Past
Night lulls my senses
to a wakefulness of Dreams
and I find myself packing
a case with books and screams.
to a wakefulness of Dreams
and I find myself packing
a case with books and screams.
I wake to realise
I’m inside my House of Past
All’s gone dark; everybody’s left
to a place midnights apart.
Our old refrigerator’s working,
with stale milk in packets,
smothered in curry stains,
and nothing else inside.
The pantry holds a pot of beans,
and roti cooked by mother,
mouldy and stale tonight,
countless dream nights after.
My garden’s overgrown with a life of its own.
I have intruders at our lobby’s open spring door.
An owl blinks at me from the Frangipani tree.
I wait petrified for the black panther to leave.
Grey cats follow,
scampering from old bathtubs.
I heave a quiet sigh,
latch and lock the door.
This stillness is oppressive.
This lull, stifling.
These dark rooms and lit attics are mine.
I rejoice in homecoming.
I’m inside my House of Past
All’s gone dark; everybody’s left
to a place midnights apart.
Our old refrigerator’s working,
with stale milk in packets,
smothered in curry stains,
and nothing else inside.
The pantry holds a pot of beans,
and roti cooked by mother,
mouldy and stale tonight,
countless dream nights after.
My garden’s overgrown with a life of its own.
I have intruders at our lobby’s open spring door.
An owl blinks at me from the Frangipani tree.
I wait petrified for the black panther to leave.
Grey cats follow,
scampering from old bathtubs.
I heave a quiet sigh,
latch and lock the door.
This stillness is oppressive.
This lull, stifling.
These dark rooms and lit attics are mine.
I rejoice in homecoming.
The Raspy Swing
To and fro, back and forth,
I glide through the mist on a raspy swing.
Suspended in expectation and mystery,
my inky hair streams, in raucous harmony.
I glide through the mist on a raspy swing.
Suspended in expectation and mystery,
my inky hair streams, in raucous harmony.
Fear has fled to dark corners
of Moonseed creepers and Verbena bushes.
Where it lies quivering
in wildgrass and thistle, with dreamy wishes.
Threatening me — not, as I swing to them — and back,
dark garden silhouettes of night.
But a sweetness unexplored makes me stay,
swaying in damp moonlight.
Dew settles in my hair, on my nose and my knuckles.
Dark little world drifts away, draws near.
Hurried little footsteps in leaves; a rustle.
When wispy wings flicker on my trembling shoulder.
And slowly in the abandoned garden overgrown,
amid secrets of memories forgotten and old,
my raspy swing comes to a standstill
with eerie iridescence of the ancient lore.
It sparkles in air like mites of dust.
It trails my path wherever I go.
A gift, a giveaway so I don’t forget
I was a child abandoned, but not alone.
of Moonseed creepers and Verbena bushes.
Where it lies quivering
in wildgrass and thistle, with dreamy wishes.
Threatening me — not, as I swing to them — and back,
dark garden silhouettes of night.
But a sweetness unexplored makes me stay,
swaying in damp moonlight.
Dew settles in my hair, on my nose and my knuckles.
Dark little world drifts away, draws near.
Hurried little footsteps in leaves; a rustle.
When wispy wings flicker on my trembling shoulder.
And slowly in the abandoned garden overgrown,
amid secrets of memories forgotten and old,
my raspy swing comes to a standstill
with eerie iridescence of the ancient lore.
It sparkles in air like mites of dust.
It trails my path wherever I go.
A gift, a giveaway so I don’t forget
I was a child abandoned, but not alone.
The Last Lullaby
Don’t venture too close, Mama had said,
“Let the foam touch your feet,
and retreat back into the swell”
“Let the foam touch your feet,
and retreat back into the swell”
“Sit where the sand is fine,
and dry. Make castles and pat into it a shape.
But don’t venture too close honey.
Let the foam touch your feet,
and retreat back into the swell”
And then I saw you
Spying at me through the waves
Your scales washed up with the foam
And so many of your shells
Angel wing, scallop and the limpet
Conch, volute and the bonnet
And then I heard your song,
A cry, a call, a wail,
You called me close,
You said you were lonely,
Like I was with Mama gone away.
In sunlight you shone like a rainbow,
And your hair was a cloud of red mesh.
Your eyes were the wildest I had ever seen,
And you smiled the promise of a warm creche.
But now here I am
Wet and cold and alone
Tangled in the weeds
In the swell
Far from foam
Blinded by iridescence
I can’t breathe,
I can’t walk,
I can’t see the sand.
Take me back,
Take me home,
Where trees grow upright on land.
But Mama’s gone
And I’m alone
Who will sing me to sleep?
Mama’s dead
And I’m alone
Who will cuddle me when I weep?
And now here I am,
Wet and cold and not alone,
Cuddled by the weeds.
Glowing in your iridescence,
Lost in your song,
The waves rock me to sleep.
and dry. Make castles and pat into it a shape.
But don’t venture too close honey.
Let the foam touch your feet,
and retreat back into the swell”
And then I saw you
Spying at me through the waves
Your scales washed up with the foam
And so many of your shells
Angel wing, scallop and the limpet
Conch, volute and the bonnet
And then I heard your song,
A cry, a call, a wail,
You called me close,
You said you were lonely,
Like I was with Mama gone away.
In sunlight you shone like a rainbow,
And your hair was a cloud of red mesh.
Your eyes were the wildest I had ever seen,
And you smiled the promise of a warm creche.
But now here I am
Wet and cold and alone
Tangled in the weeds
In the swell
Far from foam
Blinded by iridescence
I can’t breathe,
I can’t walk,
I can’t see the sand.
Take me back,
Take me home,
Where trees grow upright on land.
But Mama’s gone
And I’m alone
Who will sing me to sleep?
Mama’s dead
And I’m alone
Who will cuddle me when I weep?
And now here I am,
Wet and cold and not alone,
Cuddled by the weeds.
Glowing in your iridescence,
Lost in your song,
The waves rock me to sleep.
Only Me in the Moonlight
She watched me through the rainbow
the foamy crest broke in,
when it exploded on the boulder
where I had been ruminating.
the foamy crest broke in,
when it exploded on the boulder
where I had been ruminating.
She watched me through the spray,
when I sat motionless,
and my breath hung suspended
with the crown of water over my head.
She watched me when she slithered,
back into the madness
from the boulder she had kissed
and quickly caressed.
Her tail reflected a million rainbows
and her wild eyes an unknown of the sea,
a knowledge of me, a stranger ,
with my heart beating for her wildly.
But she was gone now, claimed by the sea,
spitting out rainbow pearls, soundlessly at me.
I still sit waiting,
until moon rises in the skies,
but there’s no sign of the mermaid,
with the sea wild eyes.
Only me in the moonlight, it’s only me. Alone, trembling and lost hopelessly to the sea.
when I sat motionless,
and my breath hung suspended
with the crown of water over my head.
She watched me when she slithered,
back into the madness
from the boulder she had kissed
and quickly caressed.
Her tail reflected a million rainbows
and her wild eyes an unknown of the sea,
a knowledge of me, a stranger ,
with my heart beating for her wildly.
But she was gone now, claimed by the sea,
spitting out rainbow pearls, soundlessly at me.
I still sit waiting,
until moon rises in the skies,
but there’s no sign of the mermaid,
with the sea wild eyes.
Only me in the moonlight, it’s only me. Alone, trembling and lost hopelessly to the sea.
Dewy Depths
One night a starry dream
peeked in and asked.
How can I help?
peeked in and asked.
How can I help?
Carry me with you I said.
Let me float in your dewy depths.
Until I can't tell apart,
you from reality.
And I am settled
in my reticent happiness.
Let me float in your dewy depths.
Until I can't tell apart,
you from reality.
And I am settled
in my reticent happiness.
Diamonds
I was caught red handed for a crime I didn’t commit.
They are blind.
While I stand by the lake with you.
Not a sign. Not a smile.
They are blind.
While I stand by the lake with you.
Not a sign. Not a smile.
Cold as my breath. As the wind in my hair. My heart breaks
Into a million little shards
Like the fiery stars strewn across the night sky.
And you know nothing of broken hearts
And they know not it is worthless stones they found, not diamonds.
Into a million little shards
Like the fiery stars strewn across the night sky.
And you know nothing of broken hearts
And they know not it is worthless stones they found, not diamonds.
Hiraeth
A wisp from bygone times
An anomaly of cosmos
A memory that never was
Tints my nights with wistfulness
Dream after dream
Tints my nights with wistfulness
Dream after dream
