David Leo Sirois, a double feature
Sirois' reading of 'Over Water' can be accessed here as a recording: https://www.reverbnation.com/davidleosirois/song/31337568-over-water
Over Water
1.
Each bridge defines the finest way within
The métro reaches from rue de L'Alboni
Over water Ether’s river
Anchored boats with rows of potted plants
sway in the grey-brown flow
The silver tracks of the train overhead
Giant rivets keep things whole
My mind ecstatic jacket torn
Light leads seekers through dusk & dark
My heart resists weary of whirling worlds
this moon a white wafer for a willing tongue
Wordless seagulls April water
I wish to dip my head Onset of night
as snowdrop & crocus exist as past
Their understanding beyond my own
some essence of not bound between
2 .
I want to pierce this atmosphere
extract its raison-d’être
In time I am reminded
by fiery blows of kindness
What my eyes reveal the soul devours
growing sick on sights unsaid
I drown myself in fluid pavement
that absorbs a quest for questions raw
Sky still refining its ceaseless painting
My eyes burn though streets are glazed
with passing rain scent of the midst
of April when clenched pink buds all
blow in one orchestrated moment
Grasses’ endless silver eyes
Linden begins to exude its golden incense
Comes the day as always
tossing its silk white sun-stained
upturned-gravity untamed ever-moving
contemplative burning hair from side to side
as a sound within encircles
the ear of my ear constant hum
a wrenching in the heart
hovering faint hint of honey
3.
The tracks stretch across the river’s rolling glass
imbibing sky
I cannot arrive at where I am
without the name that keeps me sane
I must name
Aurum Birds wake before gold
sing without ceasing & then
4.
Seagulls wheel over the long water
crying out their timeless tale ~
Midway in the journey of our life
we found the ocean lost to us
& begging for some bond with water
wandered with every feather to seek & find
5 .
Each bridge defines the finest way within
The heart unclenches its scarlet fist
amid the endless footsteps & elevated winds
Whether I walk toward you or away
the impression stays I am steeped
in royal faintly sweet oceanic abandon
6.
In the rotating light of a Springtime triptych
from rain to blue that blinds to nuits blanches
I watch your absorption in this canvas universe
Golden hue of the sun slowly lowering its brow
The power of Prussian blue in our overwhelming dusk
Titanium white shine of snowy owl wings
Candor of Naples yellow from which a convincing
gold can be made Cavalier flashiness of my favorite purples
Burnt sienna’s incarnations as agate & red sand
The wind is wide open
There is drizzle on our hands
7.
From the highest point of rue de L’Alboni ~
see hundreds of meters of electrified rails
the color of tarnished silver
walking off to traverse the river
in purest perseverance Then long green trains
levitate in steady locomotion
in front of or behind
your hypnotizing attire
merging 3 colors
as wind-made waves play over the water’s face
& time flutters frequently
to allow us longer moments
I slip another silver coin
into the green cat’s eye of the heart
Fontanelle
Clocks have been stripped from all walls
as well as all forgotten gods
in an orchestrated effort to disorient us all
along the silver corridor where time abides
in its own loneliness almost absent at this time
Even the eyes of my eyes cannot trace
how long it has lasted & how far it will stretch its
long thin limbs It is not available for questioning at this time
At this time we cannot say or guess
the trajectory of flashes on/off
to open wide eyelids & shut them down again
The space between seconds is
Interminable unbearable at times
& the length of my spine
is sometimes immeasurable
The crown of my head quietly lifts off
of its own volition
Fragile circle of my fontanelle
Point of gentle pressure
from pure fire below
The tiniest bit of dust is
all I am capable of carrying at times
My questions sing in an unbroken flow of
legato notes & a melody of urgency
toward a certain yet forever unexpected end
The rest is silence he said
& let go of his breath
About David Leo Sirois:
Sirois is a Canadian-American poet published 115 times, in 13 countries. His work has been translated into 9 languages (Hindi, Bengali, French, German, Czech, Spanish, Greek, Romanian and Doric). He hosts Spoken World Online, the Zoom continuation of SpokenWord Paris. Sirois' first book is called Humbledoves (poems to pigeons & plants). He won Third Prize in Winning Writers' Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, and his poetry has appeared in journals such as The Bombay Review, The Poetry Village, One Hand Clapping, The Sunday Tribune Online, THE BASTILLE, and Terre à Cièl (which also published his translations from the French).