Nicolae Grigorescu


Shall I dust
Or sit and watch the sun
Play light and shadow games
On every leaf
Gold and black calligraphy
Secret sonnets
Just for me
And the tiny wren
Who nestles in the vine
Shall I wash
Or lose my way within the wind
We traipse the garden
He and I
Turning every blossom to the bee
We hum the grasses lazily
And trace a path of ghost steps
On the lawn
Shall I sweep
Or shall I practice on my echo
Every trill and buzz
And rattle
Every languid summer song




Sara Mathews     August 2017

                                                                        Duy Huynh



Hello
My pretty flowers
Every day I kiss your faces
And tell you how beautiful you are
And you tell me
How happy I look
I wasn’t always ~
Not this truthful
Deep and rooted peace
That only comes with weathering
And rain
It’s not wisdom that I seek
But to wake up with the sun
Glowing through my veins
In shades of pink hibiscus
Purple phlox
And morning glory



Sara Mathews     August 2017

Artwork by Duy Huynh (used with permission)

                                                      Photograph by Dheny Patungka


When a friend asked me
If I missed you
I didn’t know what to say
Or how to explain
The murky depths of missing
How I search the hollows
Of the night for you
Trying to pull you back to clarity
To find your entity
Your expression
Your being
And how the fear of losing you
Once more from memory
Is what can break my heart
I stretch into the caverns
Of my mind
I strain my inner sight
To raise you up
To summon you
But only do I get a glimpse
A suggestion of your face
A trace of what you were
And I cannot sleep for failure
Of my recollection
And when my friend asks me
If I miss you
I want to tell him
How I leave my bed
Saddened that I need to do this
Once again
And hold your photograph
Your paper soul
Before my eyes
Imprinting
Imprinting
Imprinting
So tomorrow night
You will not slip away



Sara Mathews     August 2017