Know

Know you have the arms of love
wrapped around you
and you are safe

Know you’re in each of my prayers
You have your place in each of my poems
My words are built around you
They are your pillars,
Your floor to walk on,
when it feels like all your foundation
is gone

Know that even though
you may think
you don’t know it anymore,
Your heart knows
And more you don’t need to know

©RoseGirl2019

The Roses Shirt – A Fated Connection

She saw in a picture that her beloved,
who lives on the other side of the world,
wore that night a new shirt with roses

She, on her side of the world
had been gifted, just a few hours before,
the same shirt
The person who gave it to her
didn’t know about him or
about her love for roses

So now on both of their chests
The same roses blossom
As a proof of their fated connection

©RoseGirl2019

The Lost Sheep

She was not like the other sheep
For she had a sensitive heart,
a poetic walk and dreamy eyes
Although she always tried
to fit into the flock
She never truly belonged

The other sheep that all dashed along
in the same direction,
She mostly went in the opposite

She then thought that she was lost
And alone she wandered in the world
She hoped for the shepherd
to leave his flock
to find the one that is lost

But instead the shepherd
sent her her counterpart
that is as dreamy and
sensitive as she is
And through him
she could find herself

©RoseGirl2019

No Limits

My love for you has no limits
It is not bounded by thoughts,
by country, by time or
by whatever you do

It just flows abundantly
Wherever it wants to go
Even if there are rocks in the river
It will still find its way to you

Even if my mind is confused
and runs away
My love for you stays as it knows
For what, for whom it is here for
and what is its truth

©RoseGirl2019

Reset

Okay. Now stop.
Let’s just press the reset button
We’ll clear out all the bugs
And we’ll set us to default
The origin where it all began:
Your eyes and my eyes met
Heaven came down
And from there, let it all
once again naturally unfold

©RoseGirl2019

Great Eagle

Great eagle, where are you
Please come to pick me up
And let me climb on your back
To see things from above

For the air is too heavy to breathe
down here
The rivers of emotions are drowning me
And all the trees
prevent me from seeing the woods

Great eagle, let us float in the sky
And see the bigger picture
I will expand my heart
And then all my thoughts will be just
little ants that crawl far below
While I will have clear vision
and see unclouded my beloved

©RoseGirl2019

As Long As I Skate

And I skate all alone
in the Dutch night
The Winter, all the cold
and all the distance
between us
I skate it all away
The pulsing warmth in my body
A pause between my thoughts
And the melody of poetry
in every move I make

And then there is just
you and me
I feel
in every breath, in every beat
My love, you’re so much here

In meditative circles I skate
The moon high above
She hides her biggest part
But she is here

And as long as I skate
this moment lasts forever
Always now and here
And you and me

©RoseGirl2019

I Understand – To Him And Her

Previous: I Understand – To Him

Previous: I Understand – To Her

I understand
You both were scared

This love is just so big
It goes so deep
It transformed everything
Swept you off your feet
It is spiritual, and beyond
anything you thought was true
It overwhelmed
You didn’t understand

You tried to build your walls
To defend with stories from the past
Tried to apply your old ways
But those didn’t work
As this love asks
for a new approach

You both were scared
I understand

©RoseGirl2019

Mirroring Flames

You mirrored me
my biggest fears,
my insecurities,
my nightmares
Stories I had made up
in my mind,
You reflected them to me

In the mirror it showed up
for me to heal and to grow
out of ego and into love

You mirrored me my truest self
the purest depths
of my soul
So I could become
the best version of me

Like two dancing flames
we mirrored our light
and our shadows
In the window of love

©RoseGirl2019

If I Could

If I could
I would take over all your suffering
All your burden, I would carry it for you
I would protect you like a lioness
and would fight with your demons,
I would conquer all your fears

I would prevent you
from ever having pain
If I could
But I know, it won’t help you
I cannot save you
I can only hold you in the space of love
For you need to save yourself
It will help you to get stronger
And at the other end of pain,
into love you will grow

©RoseGirl2019

The Old Ways

The old ways are the beaten tracks
The well-worn paths trodden down
by the same footsteps

They are anchored in gone days
Safety nets for just in case
But they never really bring far
As they go round and round
The repetitive circles
The loop in your brain

Until you learned your lessons
And you step your way out
onto a new path

©RoseGirl2019

A Lot To Hide

You tried to hide your beauty,
the treasure of your heart

You barked like a dog
Showed your teeth
Dropped your shit
Jumped around
and ran like crazy

And I looked at you in awe
And could only see
how beautiful you are
for you have a lot to hide
if you act like this

©RoseGirl2019

Who Are You

Who are you
Is it what you were told
What people project on you
The words they give you
How they describe you
The image you have

Are you what you think that they think of you
What others want you to be
What you want yourself to be
Their expectations or your own

Or are you what you know
in your heart
The truth in your soul
And what the eyes of love
have reflected you?

©RoseGirl2019

You Flame In My Soul

You are in me
like I am in you
through the love we breathe
and that our hearts beat
through our veins

Through the words we write
The melodies we hear
The dreams we dream
The thoughts we think
The future we taste

Through what we know
What we create
Through what we have seen
And what is our fate

You flow through my body
You dance in my heart
You sound in my song
You fly in my mind
And you flame in my soul

©RoseGirl2019

The Tea Glasses

I met Jamal at the biggest refugee camp
of Europe, where I volunteered
They had put up tents
in the middle of the forest in Holland
to host 3000 refugees

After a horrible journey
Jamal had just escaped from the war in Syria
He was a middle-aged man
who had lost everything:
his home, his wife, his children
and his family

I invited him to have dinner at my place
He came together with another refugee and his child
They hardly spoke any English
We ate in silence

They all were very traumatized
The small child couldn’t play no more
And even the candy and the toy car
I had bought for him
Didn’t give him reason to smile

I gave Jamal my phone number
and told him that he could call me
whenever he needed help

A week later on a Friday night,
the phone rang
It was Jamal and he was completely panicked
I first needed to calm him down
And it took a while
before I could understand
what was going on
In his panic he had lost
all his English words

It turned out he had taken a bus
as he wanted to go to the city centre
but he had taken the wrong one
And now, he was in the middle of nowhere
He didn’t know where he was
And how he could come back
to the refugee camp

It took a while before I had figured out
where Jamal was
But then I immediately jumped in my car
to pick him up
He was beyond grateful

And then a few days later
the phone rang again:
‘Marieke, sorry, please, you come?’
I jumped in my car
to drive to the camp
as I thought there was another problem
that needed to be solved

But when I arrived Jamal smiled
he handed me a present
With his last money
he had bought four tea glasses
to thank me

The tea I drink from those glasses
somehow tastes different
As it fills me with deep gratitude
And then I realize what is truly important
And how we humans
are all connected

©RoseGirl2019

My Like

I wanted to react to your post
But I couldn’t find an emoticon
That would express:

‘I love you, I support you, I adore you,
I’m proud of you, I see you, I hear you
I appreciate you’

So then I just hit the like button
But please know
that my simple like
means all of the above

©RoseGirl2019

I Miss You

Missing you
can sometimes
hit me so hard
it takes away my breath
it squeezes my heart
it panics my mind

And then
I run for my words
to fill the
‘missing you’ gap
to build a bridge
And to find
you back
at the end
of my poem

©RoseGirl2019

My Hyperactive Great Grandmother

We called my great grandmother
‘grandma bus’
She always sat behind the window
And when a bus passed by
She hysterically yelled at us, small kids,
‘There is a bus!’
And there were busses every few minutes

My great grandma yelled, screamed, talked very loudly all the time
Since she was half deaf
And besides of that, she was hyperactive

Even at the age of 96
She stood in the middle of life
She wanted to know about everything
and seemed never tired
Every time when we had visited her
we as kids were completely worn out

She liked to watch soap operas very much
‘The Bold And The Beautiful’ was her favourite
And even on her death bed
she wanted the television to be turned on
So she wouldn’t miss a single thing

They asked her if she could accept
that she would die
She said she could
She had had a good life
and she believed heaven and the Lord would wait her

The only thing that was really a pity:
she then wouldn’t know no more
how ‘The Bold And The Beautiful’ would continue
And if Ridge and Taylor would finally come together

©RoseGirl2019

The Ticking Clock

Never before had I seen
a man with so much grief.
When my grandmother died,
she left my grandfather behind
helpless and devastated

I was a student in my early twenties
and I then made a commitment
I made of Friday grandpa day
Every week I travelled three hours
to be with him

His tears kept flowing
He complained that everyone
had let him down
How he was all alone
And that I had again brought the wrong groceries with me

In the small living room
with big brown oak furniture
I listened to him
while he smoked
one cigarette after another

My grandmother looked at me
from several pictures
Her slippers were still underneath
the coffee table
Her keys in the bowl
in case she needed them again

Nothing had changed since she left
Like she could come back any minute
Only the ticking of an antique clock
reminded me of the fact
that time existed

My grandfather got sick
The grief turned into a physical disease
A cancer in his intestines
That grew and grew
As his tears flowed and flowed
And spread itself through his body

It then was grandpa day twice a week
In the half dark
I sat with him for hours and hours
In silence, with only the sound of
the antique clock ticking
He felt too sick to talk

I learned the value of presence
without any words
the value of unconditional giving

And one day he suddenly
whispered to me:
‘Please tell me all about heaven.’
I told him about it and said that his wife would be waiting there
And that they would be reunited

He whispered ‘thank you’
Tears lit up in his eyes
while he smiled
And then the silence returned
Never before had I felt so close
to him

And one day I got a phone call
that his end was near
When I arrived and entered the room
my grandfather had his eyes closed
‘Who is there?’ he asked the nurse
‘It is Marieke’ she said
He smiled, his voice weak
‘Oh it is the angel,
she was sent to me from heaven.’

A few hours later
the clock stopped ticking

©RoseGirl2019

Drifting Sand

You came to visit me in my dreams
last night
Your eyes were sad
and your heart weighted
heavily on you
You could not move

I was glad you were there
And like a cat
I cuddled up to you

Your skin absorbed me
We drifted into one another
like sand
And you were brought back
in motion
by the touch of our skin

And when I woke up
You were gone
but on my cheek and my neck
I could still feel your touch
Until it drifted away
like sand

©RoseGirl2019

In My Heart

I feel you so strongly
in my heart these days
Is it your longing
for me that pulls you in?
Like you’ve found
your home there
and you have no intent
to ever leave

And is it my longing for you
that lit the home fire,
the light that your eyes
sought in the dark?

And that wants you to stay
forever in my heart

©RoseGirl2019

What’s On The Menu

What’s on the menu
in our restaurant of love

Do you want it spicy
and really hot
Or sweet and sugar-coated
Fresh, surprising,
Nourishing or
juicy and full-flavoured

We can have an appetizer
Or go directly
to the main course

Do we drink champagne
or passionate, red wine

Do we eat slowly
or jump head over heels
on fast food

Do you want me to taste
your songs one by one
On my lips and on my heart
I will feed you my
poetic words
and will let you swallow
my melodies of four stars

And then
do you want a dessert
to cool down
Or do we go for
another round?

©RoseGirl2019

See also: In The Chinese Restaurant

Faith

The white mill stands
like a white church
among the clouds

It connects
heaven and earth
Its reflection caught
in the water

Its wings will be turned
like a wheel of fortune
in the wind
By the gentle hands of angels

Change and movement
will come soon
Stay strong
and have faith

©RoseGirl2019

* Photo taken in Arnhem, The Netherlands.

And We Look Up

And we both look up
I see the stars and moon
And you on your side of the world,
you see the sun

See my face, my smile
in the rays of light
Feel my love for you
in its warmth
And let it shine
upon you

I will see your splendor
glow in the moon
And the stars shine out
your love for me

Please let us both
keep looking up
We say our prayers
Make our wishes
upon the stars and
heaven’s grace

For all good comes
from above

©RoseGirl2019

I Heard A Scream

My fairy man,
Is it you there
lying on the ground
in the woods
You left yourself for dead
In your eyes the silent imprint
of grief and loss

I came to look for you
As I heard a scream
echoing in my heart
in the middle of the night
And I didn’t know
if it was me or you

But here I am,
your fairy woman
I kiss you alive
I dress your wounds
and warm you at my fire
You have to get up yourself
But here is my hand

©RoseGirl2019

Love Refugee

You left your place
And now it’s all empty
Were you that scared
and anguished
that you did not even
closed doors?

Did it all overwhelm you
were you too naked
behind open windows
and in the light of the sun?

Did you feel sad and anxious
Your home not your home
Your mind that chases your heart
And you just started to run?

But come,
find a shelter, here in my arms

©RoseGirl2019

Flying Birds

The bird flies in the open sky
And with every beat
her wings get stronger

She learned to sing
her own songs
The wind amplifies
the tunes of her words
that stream from her heart

And sometimes
She still longs back for the land
Where she can hide in trees
Where no one can see her
As the open sky makes vulnerable
and those on the land
can shoot or can withhold
their appreciating eyes

And over there in the distance
behind the fog bank
She cannot see him yet
But she knows,
there flies her beloved
As he took flight at the same time

Still he hides
And just like her,
sometimes he returns to the land
But his heart song gets stronger
And he trusts his wings
more and more

Both birds face their fears
Until they will be ready
to dare to fly
through the fog bank
and to each other
on the other side

©RoseGirl2019

Can You See

Can you see
Now the curtain
has been pulled back
All that blurred your eyes
has been removed
And illusions have been lifted

Can you see
Now all that mattered
does not matter
no longer
Your heart has clear sight
Focus has shifted

Can you see
Me?

©RoseGirl2019

The Chinese Restaurant

And in the Chinese restaurant
we are the only ones
that are left
The place is empty
And it is just me and you,
the red dragons and
exotic sounds in the background

The characters on the wall,
We do not understand
We are strangers here
And outside seems far

The food is hot and spicy
And your eyes shoot fire
In the half dark

Come, let’s go
For this restaurant is not for us
If you have tasted
the flavours of true love,
Then such a place
will only
feed hunger more

©RoseGirl2019

See Also: In The Chinese Restaurant

See also: What’s On The Menu

Art Meets Art

When my poem meets yours
When your song meets mine
When words and melodies first
shyly look each other in the eyes
But then come closer,
start to dance,
entwine and merge,
They burst
together into a new poem,
a new song
And then out of creation,
creation is born

©RoseGirl2019

Once There Were A Man And A Woman

And then there was a blank page
A new story to write
Fresh poetry, new lines
At the start of a new year

But the main characters
are still
the man of song that lives overseas
in the land of the sun
And the woman with the rose
in her hair
that dances in the land of the fields and the waters

And the ink that flows
from my pen
still stems from the well
of their love

©RoseGirl2019