Her face rides out front
Body carved by artisan
Not a live one steps foot
Lest to say farewell
Till return to homeland
Her likeness revealing
The love of artist heart
Like a woman of dreaming
Unreal onboard
Writing home to her
Every single day
Or some piece to hold onto
As tide carries me away
Is clear there's something
Between us
That which keeps us apart
Holds us together
Rather than deter
It makes me want
You more
The image I portray
Is simply a gentle fear
That if it were to disappear
Our love would fade away
'Bright young women
Ready to stand
Ready to know
What the people know
Ask them my questions
And get some answers
When's it my turn?
Wouldn't I love?
Love to explore
That shore up above
Wandering free
Wish I could be
Part of your world'
~Ariel, 1989. (C) Disney
Part of that world, by Jodi Benson
So spine tingling
Knuckle gripping
Pillow hugging
Daze eyed drinking
Hard when comes time
To realise the dream
Is not real
We will wake
Whenever we're ready
Or else stay
Asleep
Haymaking
Sunshine and rain
Brave one who
Hops onboard
Riding forward
While others gather
Receiving stores
Bailing and loading
Sundried piled high
Wheat and straw
For each living thing
In community
Out of rain
Hoping greenness
Had gone away
Save spontaneous
Combustion
Meanwhile few
Content with
Love's gleanings
Slim pickings
On the fringe
Taking only
What they need
To feed or bake
Wheaten loaf
For family roast
Horse or goat
Stave off hunger
Together
For one more day
Deciding upon
What to adorn
My walls
To keep me content
In case we need to
stay in again
Thick oak-look frame
Appearance is everything
Sandstone smiles
In the shade
Sun behind
Holding up a glorious
Bouquet of natives
Flannel flower power
Blue gum leaves
My own arrangement
By request
Selected anything
With white bloom
Tea tree in season
Looking like
A big cauliflower
Dried nicely
In my room
I remember
The next a mirror
Painted frame
Like retro glam
Gold and silver
Telling me
Look at you
-How you've weathered
So nicely
In the stormy seas-
Looking at me
Another gold
Circular seal
With purple
For royalty
A lineage
When born again
Not feeling it
In fact it tells me
Yes you studied
Greek among men
Not so different
From the halls
Of Plato
Ecumenicum
Blending in
With other
Women
Carry a Grecian
Jug on my head
So as not to attract
Attention
A bold shot of blue
Spread from end to end
Covered in blossoms
From a shaky hand
Eyes near blind
World inside
The mind of Monet
My dear almond blossom
Friend
Telling me it's time
To leave these walls
Behind
Remember the branch
Severed at one end
Can bloom and grow
Again
Fine lines and filagree tracing
Fingers follow edges
Soft downy folds
Velvety lacing
Artful designer raises
Takes down asunder
Plundering wealth
Riches beyond dreams
Earth Woman wonder
Just as in a day
Can take a breath
Enslave it
By evening freed
In listless sigh
Of resignation
And sleep
Don't dream it, be it
Is nature's cry
As several evolutions
Of matter
Land on my thigh
Her eyes trace the outlines
Mating decorations
Imagining them away
To nothing
Come undone
Completely
For several hundred and one
Days spent between extremes
Fighting, crying, sight
Laughing, smiling, delight
No greater affirmation
More than three letters
Yes, or I do
In the still dark silence
There is none other
But you
From where
Does that voice
Of home, of love
Emanate from
For you?
Mine in the silence
Stillness of morning
Liminal spaces
In between times
Waking and falling
Daily repeat
Comfort only
Listening sweet
As waves in chorus
Between the staves
Low vocal tones
Violincello
Hum of engine
Breeze on wing
Chatter of trees
Sky ocean mirroring
I have seen some
Listening for love
From afar, voices echo
From ruins and scars
But mine here and now
Alive and loud
Any less and how
Could I stand so proud?
So I sing evensong
Night and day
Short and long
To remind me and all
To listen to the voice
That proclaims you worthy
That the life you dream
To live is real
If only
Within you
Swept
Breath
Fall
Off their feet
Taken away
On their knees
Sounds divine?
We have a lifetime
To work it out
How to live in love
From this position
Upturned
Breathless
Lying low
We will need
Every day
However long
It should take
To know
How to stand
Held hands
Walk on
Pure delight
Little fingers find
Feathery treasure
Waving its finery
We shed parts
Of ourselves
For friends keep
To admire
In sharing
They grow
Lighter
Fly higher
Lament
Those of us
Left behind
Count the stars of heaven 