The Excerpts series are poems that I write directly from dreams. I feel that if I can remember them and the dialogue within them, there is a reason for that and so I write them here.
This story , subtitled 'Listen To A Poet's Voice' is about meeting one of my very favorite poets, Natasha Head. She has a unique and powerful voice that I find extremely inspiring. Check her out at http://www.tashtoo.com/ or on Twitter @tashtoo
she sat in an overstuffed velvet chair
with notebooks spread across her lap.
pens and pencils, artist’s tools
were strewn all over the floor.
I walked into the room and sat down
on the floor in front of her.
she said, “which one is your favorite?”
I answered and she began to read.
I closed my eyes at the sound of her voice
the way it wrapped around the words.
she has lived these words and can speak them
as if they come to life with her breath.
telling tales of lives that are lived out
loud
even when only whispers are heard.
she turned the pages with the sound
of a flutter of butterfly wings.
graceful and soft almost a hush
mesmerizing delicacy.
she treated the words like treasures
and held them close to heart.
pacing herself only by
the way I reacted to them.
with a hunger I listened and hung on the
words
as she let them fall from her lips.
she said, “I don’t do this for everyone…
only those who can hear what I say.”
hours passed, perhaps even days
I was lost in the stories she told.
reading from the depth of her very soul
the magic just drew me in.
the time came to read the final page
in earnest she searched for the one.
the perfect ending to this moment
the words that would complete the tale.
at the turn of the page there were colors
brighter than any I’d seen.
hues that resembled a rainbow
jumping off of the page.
hit my eyes with almost a sting
and she looked at me with a wink.
we both laughed out loud for a moment
as she tore that page in two.
handed one half to me and kept one for
herself
“into your pocket it goes…”
“those aren’t the ones we read out loud,
we keep them close to our hearts”.
those were the words that followed her
as she rose and left the room.
