Wednesday, July 29, 2015

~New Coffee Cup~

                                               



he picked up my coffee mug and set it right side up
among the raspberries
and yogurt
I bought for lunch
in my wheat colored grocery bag


“hey good lookin”
he blushed and laughed
and looked away quickly
like a Italian schoolboy
smooth lines
on gaunt lilly face


my new coffee cup
the small slopes
of cups meant for espresso
with the thick half heart
white ceramic handle


a woman
with curling black hair
and a blue
widebrimmed hat
her face is calm
and her lips are pursed
in a open berry pose
like she’s got a delicious secret
the Eiffel tower
is behind her
a coffee cup is floating by
steam curling lazily
to her


she seems like
she doesn’t know where she’s going
she’s just following the lines
of what’s done


sometimes I think I’m drowning
in the things I feel
I hope you dreams stay big
and your worries stay small


I hope you never look back, but never forget
I miss you
the hardest thing I had to do
was stand up straight and love you


on the busy sunlit street
it seems like today
people are so distracted
by something that didn’t happen yet

~Sarah Mahina Calvello~

Sunday, July 26, 2015

~Ginger and Fred~


it’s a slow kind of morning
where you could see the flies dance around the plants
in the window
and the pale sunlight through the cool green ice plants
straight lines
which you could call beautiful
in the pale sunshine


gold and green
bread pudding
with fruit and cream
tastes soft and velvet
sweet lingering stain
of coffee
make everything just right


green
cushion armchairs
soft and deep
your Irish accent
lingering


why don’t we dance
like Ginger and Fred Astaire
up in the air
the air up there
lets go bag a  shadow


why don’t we take the time
the slow water rhythm
whatever you do
hold onto your foolish smile


please don’t go
I love you so
it’s a funny thing about your world falling down
it’s got a way of turning you around
to start again
each day
on replay
~Sarah Mahina Calvello~

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

~The Raccoon~


whirring
purrs
and clicks
rise and fall
like an incandescent wave

outside our window
at night
hidden
by the scattered fan of leaves
of the knotted ash
branches of the tree I grew up with

I look out the window
just in time
to see your salt and pepper
woven feather
tail
fading fast
down the naked red bark
 into more sighing shadows

it calmed me
solid light
like you
is the only thing this darkness
has for me

roof to rooftop
emotions like light
jumping
and the raccoon
I’ve never seen by my window before

no more masks
this is what I feel inside
this is me with no pride
in the warm chocolate
night

is this how it's going to be?
feeling exposed and torn apart
always going on meaningless
where there’s supposed to be meaning

no more masks
to hide behind
corners
turning around corners
turning lies into truth
proves a harder task

the layers of the onion
continue to peel
and you will cross my mind again
out of all the thing’s I’ve held
the best if you

tomorrow
will be better
another long day
in the shadows




~Sarah Mahina Calvello~






Monday, July 13, 2015

~Next Candle~



it was warm
and crowded
the first real summer day
in a long time

a day
where you  
could feel the sun
in the lazy air
like a webby mist
around you

the flowers
fans of green
and jagged brown
secret velvet
and bouncing sunlight

colorful
and quiet
arcs of white hot
clouds rest awhile

I finally got to
sit at the mosaic table
blue
diamonds
fading into black
then start over again
like lonely painted waves
finding the shore

the iced  mocha
tastes like strong chocolate
velvet and feathery
on my tongue
like a forgotten memory
you have to smile about

a cream ceramic plate
lays beside it
the best biscotti I ever had
chocolate and nutty
and soft spice

I have to remember
that it’s my park
I have my whole life to walk trough it
even if I want so much
to run trough it

I’m not good
with open wounds
you always wanted me
to  be what I’m not
docile and beautiful

I’ve finally accepted it
nothing will change
a lot of fun times
at the park down there

but it’s not the meaning
of life
it’s the feeling of life

it’s a strange
and wonderful
dream
you can’t help but stop and watch
winding away
to the next candle

~Sarah Mahina Calvello~

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

~Neighborhood Coffee~

                               
neighborhood coffee
in the morning
poured into paper cups
with no sleeves
so you can feel the heat
vibrate through your fingers

a chocolate doughnut
still soft and round
I sit at a glass table
with a braided trim
chip piled in the corners
like colored glass
a mismatched mosaic
a old woman
sits reading
the datebook
gold filigree glasses
short, blond hair curling
around tan and taut skin
high cheekbones
rest in a calm smile

a dark blue padded mosaic coat
light blue flats and flower earrings
occasionally giving directions
where things should be
in the deli around us

I smile at her
and asked her if she was the boss
we talked and laughed for awhile
she told me with pride 
how she sent
her favorite turkey sandwich
to her son
and his children
and how she’ll see them again
at Christmas
lighting up 
when she mentioned
all the food
she didn’t have to make
she slowly got up
and put away  her paper
in her bag
 
she walked up to me
her brown eyes soft
as if afraid of how I’d react
so she took my hand
lily cold and trembling
like the flower
she smelled like

”When I’m here,
l’ll help you with
with your coffee"

she said
she’s usually here in the morning’s
although I’ve never seen her before
a beautiful bent blue fairy

“I’ll help you with your coffee anytime"
we stare at each other and smile
I watch her walking away
knowing this could be me
and I wouldn’t mind
living in this
calm, blue world
                                               
                                        ~Sarah Mahinaj Calvello~