#poem, «Now That We Are Green»

Now That We Are Green
11 JUN 2024
Francisco Bravo Cabrera
(Written while listening to Sonny Rollins)

Now that we’ve left behind the challenge,
which is youth,
to dance a minuet with shadows on the wall,
we’re on a first name basis with the monsters down the hall,
and often need a comforting embrace.

Some think we need a kiss
to moisten
the dry wrinkles
that our wisdom…and our years…has sculpted on our face.
But instead we turn our head,
and shy away from kisses and embraces.

We’re wingless,
flightless birds
that calloused hands have fed.
Not being able to take flight,
we have walked
burdening the Earth with our little sorrows.
But now that we are green,
we find no need to hurry,
we can finally rest.

One day I took three coins and tossed them in the air,
and searched the I-Ching for answers.
How will the end be?
Will there be days when tears cloud my eyes
and grey clouds fill my skies?
The answers are still floating with the coins high in the winds
or in the pages of I-Ching…

Where do they hide, the days that have flown by?
The past is a closet filled with sighs.
But the past becomes the search in old crates of oak and iron,
filled with time,
forgotten in the darkest corner of a musty attic.
Time hides and no one can find her,
though everywhere there’s hidden time…

Time brings miracles and wonders.
I am.
You are.
I’ve been.
You’ve been.
But now that we are green,
the truth is seen…

Green eyes can see the shattered spirit of
the passersby,
hearts heavy with misery,
and sins that loudly
rise from our dirty streets.

Can anyone smell what I see? (asks the stranger)

“I can”, I reply,
and I wonder…

All we’ve done is hide from sorrow,
run from pain,
and we sit,
whiskey in hand imagining how much we’ve changed.

But now we’ve all green eyes.
We’re returning to the skies.
We can see who’s in the dark,
like we have seen who’s in the light.
And now that we are free from the shackles of our youth,
we know we have been lied to
we know that we’ve been used.

C.2024, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 11 JUN 2024, Valencia, España

CHEERS