Our Fado Song

Here in the narrow, steep streets of Lisbon
We step into a fado song
And drown in the lake of longing
Our story woven
into the history of this town

A you and a me
A love that reaches overseas
Sailing the stormy waves of destiny
Wine and fish, music, poetry and tears
Melancholy blends with hope
O meu amor do silêncio
Your melodies are echoing
forever in my heart

©RoseGirl2018

Reciprocity

In the forest between Cascais and Sintra, Portugal

I breathe out the air
the trees take in for me
I inhale the air
the trees transformed for me

Underneath the ground
a network of roots
connects the trees
The forest breathes
as one with me

©RoseGirl2018

Rebirth

The initiation well of Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra

The tower does not reach up into the sky
but descends down into the ground
A spiral staircase leads me
into the underworld of darkness
Inside the womb of mother earth I die
I take off my old self
at the bottom of the dark, moist cave
And then slowly I rise
Rebirth my renewed me
I emerge from the labyrinths of my own depths
Journey towards the daylight
Up into your radiant mystery

©RoseGirl2018

Rocks In The River

There are rocks in the river
That block the water from flowing
The river keeps its tales unrevealed
And I am lost for words

I want to swim in your depths
Get drown in the waters of your heart
Float in your ocean
Your current will lead me
back to my words

©RoseGirl2018

Wings Of Gratitude

I bow for the land and the sea underneath me
I bow for the sky spreading widely in front of me
I bow for the angels close above me
I bow for the harvest of the days behind me
For the seeds of tomorrow within me
For the lights of the souls around me
For your heart beating always along with me
For the love flowing strongly through me
For all that you are and all that I am
I bow

©RoseGirl2018

Sandcastle

Here on the sand plain
My feet sink deep into the earth
My hands build our castle
Sand slips through my fingers
While the wind blows its own
creatures
And heart clouds float happily
above me in the sky
Believe, all the magic is real
and reality
is just a bad dream

©RoseGirl2018

Destination

A gloomy sea under a dreary sky
Salty tears and bitter thoughts
The horizon is a line to cross,
a misty spot in future
The boat leaves a trail
behind and disturbs the water

Don’t look back
Don’t look forward yet
Just feel how the wind
makes your hair dance
The moist on your skin
Him in your heart
Destination lies within
the now

©RoseGirl2018

The Day You Were Born

The day you were born
heaven came to earth
Flowers bloomed,
birds serenaded,
the sun shined
All celebrated
your unique expression of life
Angels blew their horn
and spread the word that
you had arrived
You, free spirit
that came flying from above,
held within the seeds
of so many songs yet to be sung
You were born to be love
and be loved
by me

©RoseGirl2018

Equilibrium

We both keep still
and watch each other
Like two cats
that both have
their own territory
Carefully
holding the space
between us
Thick tensed air
Soundless words
fly back and forth
Tumultuous peace
captured in the status quo
We have our own
universe
In this equilibrium
of silence

©RoseGirl2018

Lonely Road

A lonely road ahead
While the midday sun burns mercilessly
and uncovers shadows to accompany me
My army of angels where are you
Did you dissolve in light?
Help me to see
where I am going
Or is it blind trust
that keeps my vision clear?

©RoseGirl2018

Interchangeable

You can lend my voice
to say the words
you are unable to say

The flowers in your heart wait
to burst into sounds

Let me speak your unspoken,
write your unwritten

Just dance within my poem
Hum along with my song

Since my words are yours
as much as
your silence is mine

©RoseGirl2018

Heart Care

You don’t need to give
your heart away
You can keep it
Hold it in your hands
Caress it, cherish it
Protect it, care for it
As for new born baby chick
Velvety, vulnerable, breakable

And only when you’re ready
Slowly open your hands
And let your heart fly
Gently it will land
into mine

©RoseGirl2018

Picture You

Your picture in black and white
You left the colors out
Or did they simply leave you?

Your eyes so sad
and directionless
Like they can’t see
the shore no more
Drowned in gone days

Let me paint
And colorize you
Draw your lips into a smile
Pencil you
here with me into today

©RoseGirl2018

The Lion

Behind closed doors
the lion is locked
Its roar is silenced

In vibrating stillness
it builds up
its strength

Until the day
Justice will triumph
Truth will rule
Order restored

Until the day
the lion will break out
No doors
that can make
it stop

And without any doubt
the world will hear
its thundering roar

©RoseGirl2018

Love Of Many Lifetimes

Our love,
A tree of all times
Planted long time ago
Its base unshakable
Survived the turmoil
of ages in this town
Each grain tells another story
Holds another layer
Though its crown still grows
and its leaves renew
and blossom
This tree
Older than we are
Wiser than wise
Will even survive
us

©RoseGirl2018

Patience

I don’t need to look in the sky
to know the sun is still there
I don’t need to look for Spring
As it will come
In its own time,
at its own pace

Patiently
the bare rose bush
yet holds the new roses inside
As nature gives birth to its fruits
in its own way

What you are searching for
is searching for you

©RoseGirl2018

Hope

Morning glamour glows
The soothing of the dawn
King Sun rises out of the dark
and seats on heaven’s throne
While the angels scatter their magic
upon courageous believers

I pray across the ocean
May the waves of my new day
wash your nightly worries away
and cradle you into the realm of your dreams

©RoseGirl2018

Unrooted

Fairies do not walk,
they fly
Unrooted in the earth,
earthed in the sky
If the path ahead
is yet unclear
They know,
Of trunks that block the road
their castles can be made
And even if
fairies hide behind the trees
They believe,
Love won’t hide away
from their sky

©RoseGirl2018

The Call Of The Forest

Tall trees reach out with their peaks
majestically into the sky

A magpie couple cuddles
on their bench of branches

The sparrows sing their songs
in a play of call and answer

While wood nymphs appear
Giggling in between bare trees

As Autumn took their coat of leaves
Leaving them heart naked

I walk our footsteps
On a carpet of brown and green
Silent thoughts, open ears

My dear, hear!
how the forest calls for us

©RoseGirl2018

The Moon of March

Chasing clouds
Shadows gather
The dark shoots
its arrows of fear
and haunts hearts
that lack faith

The Moon of March
holds memories
of a cold and distant Winter

Though the night
carries the seed
of the day
Like the moon is lit by the sun
The light can only be seen
because there is darkness

©RoseGirl2018

The Gray Lands

Here in the gray lands
clouds are like stones
Pressing the air
down to the ground
Misty moist
push to come clean
The gray shouts for shades
of red, blue, yellow and green
You with your true colored heart
Paint rainbows for me
To walk my way back
up into my dreams

©RoseGirl2018

As One

The words sung in my head
Are they mine
or are they yours
Is it your echo
or my voice?

The touch I feel on my skin
Is it my own hand
that touches me
Or your hand
that left its imprint?

The flower that opens up
inside of me
Is it rooted in your heart
Or is its source
the sparkle of my soul?

As one we are
I am
your you
You are
the other me

©RoseGirl2018

Moving Hearts

Where are you, my love
Where am I going
On this train
That is rolling
in rhythm with fate

Fleeting shapes
behind the window

The landscape
is moving so fast
Or is it my heart
that moves me to you

Magnets
we are
Pulled
to our destination
Journeying
towards home

©RoseGirl2018

Feet Off The Pedals

How the crows float in the sky
And the first crocus blooms
How Spring is on its way
The wind plays with my hair
While my bike takes me on a ride
down the hill

All is
Beyond what my hand can grasp,
my gaze can reach,
what doubts can turn around
Feet off the pedals
Heart off the mind
I exhale
When ties are loose
Hands are up
I don’t need to do anything but
loving you

©RoseGirl2018

Girl With The Secrets

She disappears
in misty clouds
For no one to see
Erasing her trails
Her inner landscape
full of caves
In which she hides
Scars and treasures

Behind closed doors
unexpressed words
are a knot in her throat
A wall to protect
becomes a wall
that divides

Though at the window
of her heart
She still looks out for him
As he too disappeared
in misty clouds
And both wait
for the sky to be cleared
To find out
they were never far away

©RoseGirl2018

The Song Of The Blackbird

Heaven birthed a child
Its skin yet transparent
And not to touch
Before it could land
It flew back to the other side

Though its never breathed breath
Is blown by the wind
And its voice can be heard
In the song of the blackbird

And it will be reborn
In every creation
In words written by hands
That are heart’s servants

©RoseGirl2018

Hanging Girl

Hanging girl
Swinging
above the tops of worlds
above streams of
whispering voices

Upside down
she finally sees
the world upright
The four winds
change her direction

His face, her Sun, is
in the clouds
Each swing brings
her higher
Effortlessly
No need to rush
to kiss his lips

As she knows
Life will carry
Life will provide

The light she perceives
in him
She has found it
shining brightly
within

©RoseGirl2018

Holland By Night

Cloudless coldness
I drive home
under a clear wide night sky
My car is an aircraft
Flying high
on Dutch highways
Into dreams of
Portuguese sun

©RoseGirl2018

My King

Lisbon, February 18th

My king of my heart,
I wait you here on the hill in my castle
Though do not expect wealth
As nothing here
is mine or yours
We do not own
the sun, the moon or the earth
But I promise you,
the one that holds the sword
of truth,
a river of love,
of flowing eternal gold

©RoseGirl2018

Shedding Tears

Lisbon, February 18th

When you shed your tears
And let them rain down
I will catch them
Cherish them
These fluid diamonds of your heart
I will make them a river
To flow into the world
It will fertilize the earth
And by the grace of your tears
New flowers will grow

©RoseGirl2018

Mouraria Poesia

Lisbon, February 17th

Mouraria,
Ghetto of the Moors
With its steep narrow streets
Baracks between
colourful tiled houses
Cracks in walls
Scars of the earthquake
will not allow to forget

Cradle of fado
Shades of people who
lived here,
who died here
Their voices still heard at night
A resigned echo
during the day
Calmness and passion
rule the hearts
of those
who believe in fate

Laughter and tears
of ordinary men
and women
with shared
ordinary dreams
Just like ours

©RoseGirl2018

The Cathedral

Lisbon, February 16th

The Sé adorns the city
And graces its heart
Inside the wisdom of silence
preaches

And touched
by ages of devotion
I build my own cathedral
with words of elegance,
prayers of truth and love
To rise up to heaven
and honor
the poetry of life

And like a crusader
I dedicate myself to
my own divine path
Knowing that
glowing glamour
lies within

©RoseGirl2018

Tram 28

Lisbon, February 15th

I glide up and down the hills
trough the narrow alleys
on tram 28
This vehicle of romance
that shakes me into nightly daydreams

And suddenly
I am in a movie in black and white
And my heart starts to beat excitedly
Because – who knows –
At the next stop there is a man waiting for me,
holding a red rose
in his hand

©RoseGirl2018

Wavy Patterns

Cascais, February 15th

The sea here at my feet
The world perceived in wavy patterns
Things come and go and come
In this carousel of life
My gaze at the horizon
There is only this ocean between us
A sea that divides the land

And I could walk over water
Or ride a winged horse to take me
all the way to the promised land
Or I could just stand my ground here
Firmly with both feet in the sand
And wait the sea to bring me
All that is meant to roll back my way

©RoseGirl2018

A New Day

Lisbon, February 15th

A light rain shower awakens

the town this morning

A baptism of heaven’s waters

to reassure me I am on the right path

And all is safe and I am blessed

to follow my footsteps into this new day

©RoseGirl2018

Dancing City Lights

Lisbon, February 14th

The dark is a comfortable blanket
that covers me in sweetness
Words of life caress the streets
Everything here breathes poetry
At the other side of the riverbank
I see the city lights dancing
And I could dance along with them
all night long
In the knowing that
The sun will rise again
at its own perfect timing
That life’s tides come my way
the way they do
That this city follows
its own unshakeable rhythm
And as long as I follow mine
I will never be out of tune

©RoseGirl2018

Ode At Sunset

Lisbon, February 14th, Valentine’s Day

He whose beauty I find in every sunset
He whose eyes I see when I close mine
He whose smile I feel in rays of happiness
He whose light guides my way
through the darkest hour
He whose voice sings me
into sweetest dreams
He whose embrace contains
more than the world
He whose soul I love
Beyond body, time and space
He whose heart stirs up these words
For him is written,
For him is sung,
While the sun glides off the earth,
gratefully this ode

©RoseGirl2018

Uma Casa Portuguesa

Lisbon, February 13th

It’s cold outside
So come on in
And warm yourself
In this Portuguese house
Sit here with me
at the fire
Lend your ear to
melodies of melancholy
Guitarristas play
The fadista sings
About a heart that burns,
that longs
A fire inside
that is so strong
It lights up true faces
As by the light
of a heart on fire
Only realness
does not get burned away

©RoseGirl2018

Picture: João Martins
“Fado Corrido” com Amália Rodrigues, 1964

Hold Up My Heart

Lisbon, February 13th

The sun meets me
Here on top of the hill
at the castle of
the brave knights
Past and present
dance together
In a fairy tale of
living happily ever after

The town down there
tells about the earthquake
Long time ago
That shook up its sight
destroyed its buildings
Though left its heart untouched
Fiercely the city has risen
from ashes of
fire and water
Passion faces forward
into new beginnings

And here above time
I hear the church bells ringing
See the clouds floating
And I step forward
To hold up my heart with pride

Since here in this town
By the grace of the Tagus
The sounds of fado
The smell of sardines
The taste of victory
I am happy
to have you in my heart

©RoseGirl2018

Lisbon By Night

Vibrating dark shines
its beauty
upon Portuguese streets
The wavy tiles
of Rossio square
let me flow
into the magic
of a city
that speaks
of love
The fountains sing
their water
up into the air
A winter night
in Lisbon
is a warm
glowing heart
underneath the stars
Heavenly I find
you in every corner
of this town

©RoseGirl2018