You

Sometimes you are lost
Occasionally you start to find yourself again
Almost crawling through the maze that could take you there
Dismissing effort to reason-
Reason that sometimes leads to confusion
And sometimes to nothingness

You feel like mercury
Floating like a vein clung to its sphere
Slowly navigating your own surface, melting, occasionally dripping around
And up the other side
Again pulled toward yourself by some bizarre magnetic force

Dancing, singing, rhyming, wondering, smiling, frowning, crying, loving, lying, exploring,
Trying
What is it that you're looking for?
Sometimes I wonder whether you're to know.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Broken

Crawling underneath and in
between the tides
Of the past and of tomorrow
casting their reflections sweet,
but sorrow
A life inside and another, hazy, looking in
Such masks of confusion again spied sneaking,
sin
Still clinging to direction,
never allowing doubt
Just borrowing a memory
a dream with no way out.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Iris Rain

Rustling leaves let free in the wind
Chimes and thunder and silence sound
A single drop of hope, of nothing,
Presses upon the ground
Birds and beasts softly scatter
Golden rays fold into deepening clouds
Tall grass turns and bends and sways
Water streams quickly—slanting,
pushing further down
A single iris in full bloom
Holds tall, stands still and strong
Its petals gently dipping with each drop,
A solo of a song.
A stream enduring, living stronger
Rocks smoothing, glistening, flowing, moving – mountains shadowing from afar—
And then it stops.
Gray cover rolls into baby blue
And white and gold and green
Tiny feet inch, step by step, gently renewing their scene
And still a gentle breeze remains
And a river full of life
And an iris tall and beautiful,
Quietly collecting an all-new light.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Sand

A gentle sea breeze wisped through my hair, and the cold soft sand sank beneath my toes. As the tide rolled swiftly away I stamped in my mind the softened melody of crashing waves.

Looking out toward the faded horizon, I paused and reached into my pocket. In my little white hand I cradled two smooth pink shells, ran them between my fingers, and dipped them into my pocket again.

Quietly I slipped down to the sand and sat, wrapping my arms around my knees and resting my head.

I was whole. I was calm. I was home.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

In Short

Methodical color and time
jogging in pace with that chaos which calls itself evil
Tomorrow is smarter for both science and madness
but will righteous intelligence maintain?
Direction determining itself
based only on truth
Truth masked but for why,
for what of companion?

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Sleepless

The house fell dark, but moonlight filtered in, and the stars cast their lonely stare from Heaven. There she sat behind the shadows, inside the aged white walls. Her hair pinned back softly, her faded dress half hidden from the night’s gentle glance, she watched her fingers as they graced the smooth white keys. Her melody was quiet, calm. Almost somber – and yet, somehow, lovely. Slowly, peacefully, the moon drifted over the sea, and the sun’s first rays grew bright across the horizon. Her song continued. His soft touch on her arm lowered her sweet young eyelids, and her fingers glided instinctively over the keys, still sipping their melody. He sat beside her and released her hair to her shoulders. Resting her hands for a moment, she let them fall into his and leaned her head upon his chest. He held her, skimming his fingers across her hair, and slowly she drifted to sleep.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Transparent

Mountain colors, serendipity
Buying care or sunshine
Walking on moonlit pebbles
Searching for something to win
Featherless clouds moaning or dancing
Withholding premonitions of sin
Deep inside a lemon heart
A soft and simple silence
That sings like a sparrow and sprinkles the waters
With all but that is from within

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Seasoned

Climbing cautiously, the vine
Its purple sprouts defying truth
Mystery in global wisdom - death and life
Blood runs sour
Time conquers with ominous desperation
This fresh smooth bean, five golden grapes, a silver jagged rock
Or a thousand crashing waves
All that matters in robin's distant flight
Something within wind's whisper,
wistful, wild, sweet, and teasing
Thankful never knowing
Wonder brightening with curiosity
even the darkest of worn-out seasons.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy

Hawk

Through forest thick with thorns, black puddles, and fairies
The red-tongued hawk dove down
Nightly black feather-tipped clouds
At her talons
Soaring in swirls to the ground

She peered from the brush underneath an old garden
Molded black bones of a rotted iron gate
Still as the death, lonely and tired
Yet still unafraid she did wait

As the marsh and its mysteries
To her drew closer
The empty air gathered a scent
She felt in her spirit a deepened black wonder
Her hunger so matted and bent

With great gray wings she assembled her strength
Pulled up her head and took flight
She speared through the air and turned in the distance
Bearing the darkness of night.

Copyright ©2005 Sarah Jean Cuddy