I have built a place for you
Where the inside of your shoe Is softer than the thick and multicoloured moss We find upon fierce northern rocks Softer than a pygmy lullaby A place With doors of living wood Trees that sway away As you enter And shut themselves behind you The leaves that ornament these trees Are full of poetry Green words written in gold By delirious princes Lost in love Warrior words Recreating distant homes Worried words of mothers Words of friendship Written in the deep dark ink of trust Promises made and signed in blood Upon thick parchment Sleeping words awoken for you Shepherd words about their camel herds Wise words by men who live in isolation Sailor words about the ocean Exotic flower words Words that describe the flight of birds Words of pain Glass words Last words Vast words of regret about great loves that could have been Tombstone words Words written on the morning of the birth Of the first child Of a new generation Of a noble family Words written to be free of tyranny Words for you Written by me Collected in the leaves of giant trees That sacrifice their bodies Just to please you As a doorway to this precious place And when the wind blows hard outside The voices of great poets rise Inside the leaves Perfect polyphony I have built for you A kitchen lit with the bright hopes of youth Beneath three Russian chandeliers A living feast appears in the dining room The table is of ancient marble The food always renewed Endless degrees of taste spring from the plates Explosions of first love upon the tongue Sushi subtlety Culinary architecture The taste of adventure Mouthfuls of meat Potatoes meant to make you feel at home The maturity of cheese Recipes Rediscovered on the dusty shelves of libraries In prestigious universities Strong bursts of lemon Seafood fantasies Elegant pastries Candy store variety Every single type of tea Blue Mountain coffee Subtle flavour blends Perfected through conservative lineages Of Moroccan mothers Identity Can be lost or found at this table It is always here for you In this place I have built for you On winter evenings there are cozy living rooms With carpets so thick you could lie down and sleep Carpets woven by nights of mine Great nights that lived and died to soften your time Long logs of loyalty burn in the fireplace Spreading deep orange across your face Solo piano on the stereo Wild beasts lie obediently Rest your head against warm fur The depth of lion breath The slow rising and falling of his chest Loosens every muscle in you Now you can relax and laugh If your little arm is tickled By his mighty tongue For you a green lawn on summer mornings To sit for hours with me Orange juice and coffee Lazy newspaper stories Of a strange and distant world of hurt Far far away from this garden Where the stream laughs like a schoolyard The pond welcomes giant swans And mountains stand guard on the horizon Keeping our enemies out The smell of ocean is ever-present Its breath like a drumbeat through the days Afternoons when horsemen compete for your amusement African dancers capture you Between two pages of this poem You are torn from tranquility Stampeding through some dusty plain Fire on your face Laughing loudly Plunging through a mirror framed in Timbuktu Emerging refreshed from the pond The swans annoyed at your intrusion You drip across the lawn And find me swinging my pen like a sword By the patio door Memories invade you on the beach at sunset Ocean tips at my feet I stand with my hands in my pockets and my pants rolled up My face red with sun Singing some nostalgic Spanish melody While you weep at the passing of the day I have built for you a place where people always pray Evenings are filled with the memory of God Friends visit We drink sweet tea And live in poetry Hallways speak of past adventures Pictures and artefacts I have built a place where your clothes always fit right Magnificent Comfortable Pearls of wisdom grow from your evening gown Traces of gold surround your eyes A veil of moonlight covers your hair Upon each finger is a jewel for every type of little joy You are different and more beautiful Every time you cross a mirror In a house of poetry All things explode from oneness into lush diversity On some days you find yourself in a simple wood cabin With the smell of leather and pine and total food in a heavy black pot I chop wood for the stove Outside Through the window of wide eyes White snow shines for miles On the table by a can of coffee cream My pen sleeps on a napkin You wake it up To find new poetry in its sheets For you a place with a sleepy cat stretching on the kitchen floor Instant coffee and sliced bread in the toaster Crumbs in the butter if you need reality For you a place that is lonely without you Rooms that are dark without you Ghosts everywhere Nobody likes an empty house For you I’ve built a place that needs your beauty strength and grace A place where you are noticed Every day admired A place inspired By you A place of poetry A place of possibility A place between a dream and full reality Jason Sparkes © 2003
2 Comments
Norah
8/10/2014 04:11:10 pm
Walahi this feels like my favorite poem I've ever read.
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jason sparkes
8/10/2014 08:51:09 pm
I am honoured to read that!
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AuthorTransdisciplinary scholar of Islam and Sufism. Archives
January 2025
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