‘Tis the merry month of May and yet the buds do hide
The ground is soft and mushy brown
In places where the wintry blanket’s thrown
The trees stretch out their knobby hands
The fingertips bulging waiting wanting to bloom
The sun only teasing winking peeking behind the gloom
As the trees stretch out their knobby hands
Waiting to bud in this merry month of May
My balcony blooming while snow still lies on the ground in May, ©Cindy Lapeña 2015
©Cindy Lapeña 2015
“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.” ~Goethe
I see magnificence and beauty
and a certain sadness with the sunset
and yet again calm as my world settles down
with the hope that I, too, will rest
with a certain sadness like the sunset
and that irreplaceable calm after a storm
when my world finally settles down.
© Cindy Lapeña, 2014
can’t see the fine rain
but the tree branches are getting whiter
by the minute collecting ice
on every twig and bough
it’s not so much a snow day
as it is an ice day
with the frosty breath
of winter freezing the spittle of march
on everything it touches.
i
white snow-laden trees
outlined by shadowy bark
winter once again.
ii
green winter giants
arms reach out in silent plea
weighed down with wet snow.
i hitched my dream to a falling star
and like the star it didn’t go far
i hitched my dream to a growing tree
it grew so tall but was not free
i hitched my dream to a free wild bird
it soared up high but was not heard
i freed my dream, let loose its reins
it shouts, it soars, it grows without restraint.
© Cindy Lapeña, 2013
everyone needs a shoulder to cry on sometimes
someone to brush away tears from your face sometimes
someone to hold you tight, make things seem right sometimes
chase away shadows, scare off the demons sometimes
dark clouds, dark days just won’t leave you alone. sometimes
you need someone. you might think you’re alone sometimes
you feel the world is working against you sometimes
not every day is rainy and cloudy. sometimes
everyone needs to see sunshine, blue skies sometimes
but sometimes you just need to be alone. sometimes.
© 2013 Cindy Lapeña
Charlottetown
welcome the summer rain that battles the heat
hesitant and uncertain
it drops like a spray in spurts then gushes then spurts
sorry raindrops cooling down the air somewhat
but not enough to soak the ground.
© Cindy Lapeña
2013
by Kitt Lapeña
thunder and lightning and papa
i was as proud as a little girl could be
at six
with my very own room
and my very own bed
and my very own closets
and a door i could close
to be alone
until the big storm
when thunder roared
and the lightning
turned the shadow of
our neighbor’s caimito tree
into grotesque arms
swaying and reaching
in the blue-white glow
of the stormy night
and the wind
lashed at the windows
and left an open one
banging
and banging
and banging
i lay awake
crouched under my blankets
trying to shut my eyes
not to see
the monster arms
reaching for me
but they did
and i forgot
how nice it was
to have my very own room
and my very own bed
and my very own closets
and a door i could close
and i screamed
until papa came
and papa stilled
the thunder and lightning
so i could sleep.
Pasig
7 July 1993
4:10 a.m.
…and papa was there
it was a dark and stormy night
and papa was there
to put me to sleep
i had always wanted to be a girl scout
and everyone’s mommy and daddy
was at the induction
to pin the tiny girl scout pin
and tie the white kerchiefs on
i thought no one would come
and just when they called my name
papa was there
mama brought me to my grade school graduation
but didn’t stay
and somewhere in the middle of it all
as i strained to see the tiny faces in the crowd
papa was there
with his camera and his big almost-smile
and when my tummy hurt
really bad in school and
i had to get an appendectomy
before the anaesthetic got to work
papa was there holding my hand
and his eyes and shining eyeglasses
were the last thing i saw
floating next to the iv bottle
and when i walked down the aisle
papa was there holding me
like a little girl again
and smiling and crying
as i was
and when bianca came into the world
i thought i saw papa at the window
in a green surgical smock and cap
and when i woke up
there was a bag of sweets and cakes
and papa
and when i die
wherever i go i’m quite sure
the first thing i see will be papa.
Pasig
7 July 1993
4:55 a.m.
thunderclouds and ligntning
filled the sky.
i met a dream
that walked with me
for but a moment
of euphoric haze
a dream
that touched me
and for a moment
we walked
in a drizzle
of honeyed rain
soaked through
with blissful warmth
that burned
with fierce glow
of white fire
and drowned
in torrents
a blackened downpour
of blinded fury
shattering the serenity
of sleeping soil
rending the bloody earth
in two
the honeyed rain
seeping through
unfathomed depths
leading — where?
the roots exposed
reach out
to bridge an impossible
gap
that greedily swallows
the tears of heaven.
i gaze across and see
my dream
calling me
our fingertips brush
lightly
over the chasm.
should we clasp
each other and
together
fall
through a vortex of void blackness
the clamor
of our descent would be
dimmed by
the din of
thunderclouds and
lightning.
© Cindy Lapeña, 2012
Cindy Lapeña: Creativity Unlimited 