Reaching You in a Tree

"Reaching Out"

My knowledge comes from the edge of my hands
these fingers, not plans
my learning
where beauty and prose
meet purpose; I chose
to learn through reaching
out my hand
to know
the world

5/20/13

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"Cardinal in my Tree"

There was this sight that I did see

Inside the leaves of the willow tree

A flash of red, what else could it be

But a cardinal in my favorite tree?

With feathers of red to catch my eye

And remind me of hopes from by and by

That little bird in my favorite tree

I should like to paint in ink on me

Inside the leaves of the willow tree

To remind me of hope for you and me 

5/13/13

 

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"Be You"

give them a reason to stare
they'll stare anyway
give them a reason to talk
they'll talk anyway
they'll waste their time behind your back
so give them a reason so they won't lack
with things to say
and ways to pray
for your troubled soul they marked as such
and said you have gotten out of touch
and said you have fallen down a hole
and they all pray for your damned soul
give them a reason to stare
they will always stare away
give them a reason to talk
they'll waste time talking all day
but don't you worry your heart now
be who you are now

5/1/13

By: Elizabeth Azpurua


 

Fondest Dream

last night in dream i dreamt of birds
an albatross and friends
where with large wings they flew me high
over these mountains
and i thought it passing strange to me
to dream of birds here meant for the sea
and then recalled my fondest dream
to have the waves right next to me
for if I was a bird with wings
I'd fly from my mountains
and go in search of distant shores
and gather up my friends
and though be it passing strange to see
a flock of birds here meant for the sea
the truth be told my fondest dream
is to have the waves right next to me

Wealth of Coffins

"Tiny Coffins"

Take the items and pack them
tight, pack them small
and pack them all
Label them and stack them
high, stack them tall
just stack them all
and like tiny coffins inside a cemetery
you will line them up inside perfectly
and one by one you mark them off
and wait until you can
hold them again

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"Wealth of the Deep"

She longed for the sea like a bird longs for sky
and dreamed of the clouds as they'd roll by
as she'd sit on the shore and sing to herself
of the boundless wealth of the deep
She longed for the sea like a mermaid would
wishing for a home near the waves if she could
and soothed herself just to dream of the day
she'd dive into the wealth of the deep

11/2/12

Weeds Grow Underfoot

"Grow"

have I fallen down?
and drug beneath the earth, my soul is crawling
crawling towards you
and the rubble settles
and on me, thick, layered dust; I'm doomed
but still, I crawl towards you
and I dig my way out, and up and out
and greeting me
is sun
and the light is all and all I know is
you're the one
I'd fallen down
and learned beneath the earth, my soul is yearning
yearning only for you
and when this settles
the dust on me, thick, and heavy; I was doomed
until I learned to crawl to you
and I dug my way out, and up and out
and greeting me
is sun
and the light is all and all I know is
you're the one
you're the one
to help me.......grow

9/6/12

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"Weeds"

and thou art like a high walled garden
  where inside the weeds have grown
and I am like the bird that visits
  unable to tend, or mend, or sow
and when the rains come I must seek shelter
  and when the snow falls I must be warm
but when your flowers bloom I am here
and when your flowers die I am here
  and what they call weeds, I call home

9/5/12

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"Underfoot"

in tiny threads, stories were hidden
and then placed under the bed
in a rug
and those tiny threads lay unbidden
screaming truth for your head
in your dreams
and woven like cathedrals
in the carpet
was the truth you refused to think
and underfoot you left it
and it surfaced in your dreams
in tiny threads, it lay seeking
and under your bed
the truth
and those tiny threads speaking
screaming truth for your head
to prove
and woven like cathedrals
in the carpet
was the reason you won't think
and underfoot you left them
until they battled in your dreams

9/6/12

Pennies and Moons

Am I the waveless sea?
A starless night, oh yes, that's me
A wounded bird without wings
this has always, always been me

I spent my pennies in a well
and I would count the moons as well
and hope for a blue moon
I'd wish on times and fallen lashes and hope and pray
but faith passes
and I am hopeless

Am I the waveless sea?
A starless night, oh yes, that's me
A wounded bird without wings
this has always been me, always me

I found you wounded and alone
I was alone for a long time, too
but here I'd found you
I hoped for happiness and to find a way and I realized today
my faith passes
and I am hopeless

Am I the waveless sea?
A starless night, oh yes, that's me
A wounded bird without wings
this has always been me
I am wishing on moons
and planting pennies inside water
hoping to grow some hope
but I am hopeless

I am like a waveless sea
A starless night, it's always me
A bird without any wings
Always, always, always me
I have wished upon blue moons
and found, I found you
But pennies will not save me now
I am hopeless

The Red Bird Costume

I have tied red ribbons around these wrists of mine
and I have draped my body in red feathers fine
I have worn a mask made of paper sail boat remnants
from a sunken ship of hope hanging on in fragments
I have walked waterlogged and soggy after dark
with broken shoes through a forgotten foggy park
where my little feathers fell beneath an old swing
like a scarlet songbird had stopped there to sing
I have gazed at the moon and felt melancholy woe
where glinting off the barren ground atop the snow
lay the echoes of my costume in a shredded crimson pile
of feathers and ribbons and a mask of crumpled style
I have dripped mascara into a bright red sash
and thrown away paper wings right into the trash
I have screamed at the sequins and glitter on the ground
with an alarming, sad, and most dreadful sound
I have left a trail of red all along that cheerful place
like a morbid bird died there wearing a paper face
I have torn off the ribbons once tied in bows on my wrists
and smashed apart a paper mask with my angry fists
where not a trace of once loved boats remained in the mess
to tell the tale of hope and what the mask could express
I have shredded the feathers like a panther shreds its prey
and I have left a glitter trail in crimson all along the way
I have walked across the park to a river with frozen toes
dragging one last remnant of the symbol of my woes
I have tossed the scarlet dress into the river bitter and cold
and stood with shivering bones like one now deathly old
and I have turned from the water and walked in freezing skin
towards a silver garbage can to see what might lie within
I have found a ruined jacket with patches and with holes
that reminded me of myself and all my hopeless roles
I have walked away long after dark wearing just a coat
grasping a crumpled piece of paper that had once been a boat
leaving behind a park that seemed a grave for red songbirds
telling a story of a broken heart without any words

8/4/12

By Elizabeth Azpurua

Feather Home

I rode the seven horses beneath your raging sea
and named myself an albatross, a sea bird just like thee
I marveled at the waves and how they foam beneath the sky
and learned the whispers of the dolphins as they raced on by
I carried in my feather home the pieces of the way
that I learned to love the light as it broke each day
I traversed the winding roads that led to your cave
and named all my fears I conquered - I was brave
I mastered stealth and improvising as I learned to sing
and unto thee I have the greatest poems to bring
I carried in my feather home the pieces of the way
that I learned to love the light as it broke each day
and along my journey through the dark I have learned
that as long as I carry hope inside it has always burned
I am fragile in my feather home with pieces of the way
I truly love the light when it rises each new day
I will sing the song of the sea bird and watch the cresting waves
I will walk alone the winding road and number all false caves
I will ride seven hundred wild horses just to show
the only thing inside I really ever will know
I am fragile in my feather home with pieces of the way
that I learned to love the light as it broke each new day

by Elizabeth Azpurua

I Like Feathers

"Held Together by Feathers"

Tease me into warmer waters and guide me to the sea
follow me in paper boats
and bring my home to me
Carried in lights across the sky
and remind me who I am
in feathers and recreations
of a forgotten land
Lead me into the stillness of the woods and hold me there
and play the sound of nature
and tell me that you care
Carried in songs from birds through the trees
remind me of life and love
and everything I need
in the moment you see me help me hold myself together
in memories and moments
and dove feathers
I am yours
I am yours
Take me into warmer nights and dance with me slowly
glide along the starlight
and make wishes with me
Carried in lights across the sky
and remind me who I am
in feathers and recreations
of a forgotten land
Lead me to the meadow by the sea out on the cliff there
and whisper the sound of the wind
and hold the hope in the air
Carried in the sound of the waves below me
remind me of life and love
and everything I need
in the moment you hold me help me put myself back together
in memories and moments
and dove feathers
I am yours
Forever yours

4/26/12

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"I Like it So"

i like your hands
and the way they move
across my body
inside me smooth
i like your hands
and the veins beneath
the way your fingers
sink in me
i like your hands for more than this
but this i want the most
and so it goes
i like it so
i like your eyes
the way they look at me
and stare me down
undoing thoroughly
i like your eyes
the color changes for me
capturing emotions
and the way you're feeling
i like your eyes for more than this
but this i need the most
and so it goes
i like it so
i like your smile
when you light up the room
and it captures me
chases away the gloom
i like your smile
and the way you look so fine
i like your smile
when your smile is mine
i like your smile for more than this
but this i enjoy the most
and so it goes
i like it so
i love your laugh
i love the way my soul sings
i love your laugh
the joy it always brings
i love your laugh for more than this
but love this the most
because it goes
like so......


4/15/12

Is the Bird Elizabeth?

"Elizabeth"

Bashful, was a face I knew not
I can't place my illusions
of being superior
I cared not, haughty and high handed
I was branded with a grief
born of lies
I would walk on by and glance their way
not caring who's faces I passed
There was nothing to stop me or make me stay
I would not look around
I was ornery
Timid, never a trait of mine
I would take on the world like a General
These illusions I held to were mine
to make me stronger
Yet here you are, stripped me bare in a word
You opened your mouth
to my knees, from that sound I heard
Mister, you have nerve, to bring me down
You have nerve to stop me
Who are you with your hot tempered charm?
I am no fool, you see
Sultry, these eyes of mine have captivated
I led them along like little toys
I did not care, for my illusions held me aloft
but then, you stripped me bare
You laid me out like all I was not
Showed me how weak my armor was
My little friend, called vengeance, could not touch you
you're unstoppable
I hated the fact you made me weak
I hated this vulnerable side of me
How can a man stop me with a glance
and let me know he sees right through me?
Stupid boy, I've no time for your charades
I am not a game playing girl
And yet you crook your finger then to tell me where I erred
and I am annoyed by your stance
So, I primp my hair, and I bat these eyes
I wear my pearls but try in vain
You glance my way, and I might as well be wearing
the garb of a little child
in fairy pink and glittered toes
I do not feel powerful or sophisticated
I feel quite bashful and shy
Oh, why, oh why, am I suddenly so weak in your gaze?
What have you done to me?
Then, I am transformed
Beneath your eyes I am more than I could ever be
No walls, no airs, no facades to hide behind
I am all I am and more and that is fine
You Mister, you're a Master of me
You call the shots with your finger crooked
You make me see I am powerful, by being vulnerable and being
all of me, splendid me
I am ever greater, stronger and beautiful underneath your glance and
in your words
your uttered word
that word that changes how I look at me
The word, the word, the word....is....

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"Death of a Bird"

Little bird on the pavement is dying slowly
You see her there and think to care too slowly
You figure nothing can help and why dirty your hands?
You leave that little bird there and say it's out of your hands
So, she lays alone and watches the leaves fall
So, she lays alone and watches the rain fall
She is cold and her feathers are drenched
She is shaking and in fear she is drenched
How you left her to die is so cruel and wrong
I know you'll never admit that you're wrong
She is just a bird you say just a dead bird now
Yet she died a slow death; how does it feel now?
Little bird on the pavement is a dead little thing
You had walked right on by this tragic thing
Her feathers are fading to fragile bones
Hollow, broken, kicked aside bones
You walked on by
You walked on by

By Elizabeth Azpurua

I miss a lot lately....

"I Miss it All"

I miss those mornings, crisp and early
and the dew
I miss the green grass and the autumn leaves
and I miss you
I miss the smells of breakfast cooking
and the smell of pages turning
and the sounds of birds chirping
and the feel of kitty fur
I miss the laughter and I recall
all the tears and how they'd fall
I miss the drive and I miss the road
I miss the way it winded and wove
I miss the puddles, creeks, and all the scenes
like the clouds and blooming flowers of spring
I miss the summer heat and whirling fans
I miss the smell of horses and hay
I miss it all
It all, it all, it all
What more can I say?
I miss the youthfulness and the learning
the music, I'm still yearning
I miss the cardinals and the hummingbirds
I miss it all, have you heard?
I miss the rain how it fell like a waterfall
I miss the snow how it came like a wonderland
I miss the dogs and I miss the cat''s call
I miss the warmth and I don't understand
I miss those times and I don't know why they've gone
Did I do something wrong?
I miss the way I smiled and the way I let go
I missed the stories and how I'd always know
I guess at times life must change it seems
Why did it change at all?
I miss it all, it all, it all
I do, indeed

Dead Cardinal

inside my hand you lay in feathers red
oh, bird, my sweet
i fear you're dead
this swift descent toward barren ground
in wounded thoughts
and mourning sound
she stole your life and freedom wings
in feathers red
and broken dreams
i lay you now in sodden grass
and wait in agony
for you to pass

Ruled by Logic

Sometimes I feel my voice is radio static to your ears
it's nonsense garbled within the wind
my words are thoughtless and tossed to and  fro
my purpose still unknown
I`m a carbon based lifeform ruled by logic, seeking perfect, and finding faults
I`m a dreamer needing reasons but finding dead ends...
and when I sort it out I might just be an echo on the wind
A problem never solved, riddle that was hard and an investigation of the heart
I will fill the silence with letters and speak in complicated terms
so these thoughtless words will die on my tongue in the air
When I figure it all out I will be invincible and free
and not chained to logical conclusions or meanings boxed and labeled
I will be like the bird who takes flight not needing to understand why it is that it can fly

Scorched Woods

"Scorched Skin"

This skin
it itches
this new form, it chafes and it tightens
and I am unable to shake the frightening feeling
that I am trapped
and unable to be freed
So I burn down this house
to get out, to get out
leave with scorched skin
I crawl away from the remains
the ash and fallen debris
but I'm finally free
and yet, the world burns on behind me

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"The Woods"

Hello, piperfly
hello wonderbird
Good day to you, peace-bringer
Dance away now piperfly
and go back to your enchanted wood
give me wonderbird and leave
Hello, peace-bringer
How is the day?
Wonderbird said you'd be on your way
But peace-bringer cries
"wonderbird has died
and piperfly has flown away
So, where to now? Where to then?
Where is hope and where is mend?
While we are all faltering here
I am wondering what comes again"
Hello, blue light fly
how was your day?
Peace-bringer said you'd be on your way
But she is gone, gone for good
for piperfly flew off to the woods
and I had told her to dance away
but it killed wonderbird
when she left
So now, blue light fly
where will you go?
And you reply,
"oh I don't know"
And now peace-bringer is not herself
but you can try to help
Hello, piperfly
how was your sojourn?
Wonderbird is so broken
Peace-bringer has died for him too
Now, what shall we do?
Go on, go back to your enchanted wood
I will raise wonderbird
I'll plant peace-maker again
and blue light fly be on the mend
Oh, how, oh, how this all sings
the craziest songs of wounded things
they all have cried, we've broken wings
but I do not mend all of these things

We're Done Now, Bird

"Guess This One Is Called Done"

I've been digging my own grave
I'm almost nearly done
I've been tied up as your slave
Bound to the things never done
I can barely even breathe
I know that I am almost done
My death is slowly nearing
Then it'll all be over and done
So very done
I've been laid out in this hole
Now I'm over and I'm done
You hold my heart and my soul
Destroyed both now it's done
So here is my death for you
Hold the guilt now that it's done
Nothing left to hold onto
Over and done, over and done

4/18/11

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"Fanciful Bird"

I spin inside the darkness and the shadows and the cold
It's hard to get out of bed
You were the thing that got me through the dark times
a happy little emotional head upon your shoulders
you would smile and light up my world
Where did you go? Where have you ran away to?
Was my dark and dreary world too much for you, my fanciful bird?
I was swallowing the fears, the doubts, the losses
and you were walking the streets to fame
how I'd uphold your name....but no, you walked away
into the horizon of the happy ones and when you wake each
day you spring right out of bed
I spin inside my darkness and my shadows in the cold
and I can't get out of my bed
I can't get out of my head
You were the only thing that made my world all bright and new
and I was giddy, and high, and happy and light
and I'm nothing of the sort without you
Where did you run away to?
I'm sorry my world was to dreary for you, my fanciful bird
I should have known it would be too dark for you

4/18/11

Birds Are Singing Your Name

Inside the sun, beneath the clouds
I want to scream your name out loud
Tell all the birds of your sweet face
And how you fell from outer space
How you have graced us with your essence
And the world had then received a present
I'll tell them all to sing of your name
And how nothing will be the same
If you should leave they'll sing a mourning song
And they'll say that surely something went wrong
For the sunlight contained your smile
And all the magic bottle up a while
Burst forth in Spring to wake the world and set it right
And without you there would be no pearly moonlight
You made the world a place of majesty
When you graced us with your beauty
I'll have the birds sing forever of you
Singing you're the most beautiful they knew

Cardinals

tilt over the ledge
come back, come back
spin over the edge
and I'm back, and you're back
and we're here
like cardinals in spring
what will this bring?
More songs, more wrongs
More titles and phases
and endings to phrases
I love you, I love you
I loved you, sang I
I love you, I love you
was not your reply
Cardinals darting and darting on by
this Spring will bring another reply?
tilt over the ledge
come back, come back
spin out on the edge
Come back when I'm back
and we're here
again

3/28/11

By Elizabeth Azpurua

Pharaoh Could Lose the Birds

"The Birds Don't Know"

The rain is falling like heavy marbles on this roof
Your lack of a response troubles me
And cuts through marrow
Through feelings
I suppose you are being entertained by the blue jays
While I am waiting on ravens
I suppose you are being cajoled by the melodies
While I am writing tuneless songs
But at some point you will end this silence
And I will feel like you drowned me


3/5/11
 
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“Could Lose You”

I have been often wayward and wishing for a better day
I often wander away from the crowd and don’t return
You were always forsaking the beat walking away
And you never really needed the drum
I watched you grow from and oddling into something great
But your eyes never see you and maybe it’s too late
I can’t get you to focus nor get you to dream
You won’t ever plan and you won’t believe
And when the day ends and I didn’t tell you the truth
I always wonder what I had to lose
I have been often relentless and fretting for everything
You calm my spirit and take my soul and set it firm
I dash back and forth between what is happening
But you show me how to learn
I wake knowing you have the potential for infinity
But let you go to sleep not thinking anything
I can’t get you to focus nor to dream
You won’t ever plan and you won’t believe
And when each day ends and I never told you the truth
I realize exactly what I could lose
I could lose you
And who you won’t ever become
3/5/11
 
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“Pharaoh’s Curse”
 
Like a scarred hand reaching in the darkness
Her thoughts contaminate our minds
With negativity and
Cold
And when she is holding onto the tomb
Of the Pharaoh in her hands
I will let her bear the curse
And I will walk away
From hatred and
Cold

3/4/11

All By Elizabeth Azpurua

Catching Meteors With Lettuce

Foolish like you think you can jump off the ledge
And suddenly sprout wings to fly
You’re no dragonfly
Or albatross
You stupid imbecile learn the facts
You were never good at that
So quit making planes of paper and trying
To explore the world
Quit trying to reach the heavens
By searching for a sword
I am done with your stupidity and I cannot think at all
I asked you what you were up to now
And you replied “catching meteors”
Foolish like you think you can save humanity
You are only holding lettuce and
You’ve nothing to compete
There is something stupid in you
A dodo bird, I’m sure
You imbecile you have to learn people aren’t unstoppable
And flying off the cliff for you isn’t possible
You won’t be King Arthur or find a sunken land
And you cannot catch meteors holding lettuce in your hands
Foolish did you think yourself the mighty albatross
When you left across the bridge holding a bag of sand
You claimed to be stardust?
You had tied two purple strings to your finger just to claim
Royalty had always run straight through your veins
And at the bottom of the water drowned I had found you there
A sodden little bag of sand and a drowned head of lettuce
Clutched to your chest
You wore makeshift wings of paper that became your death
Foolish like you think you can jump off the ledge
I scream at you that “you’re no dragonfly
You imbecile”
I rave and scream at the stupidity in your dead face
And kick the head of lettuce and the wings that let you die
You were never very smart
And I begin to cry
But as the nighttime darkens and I watch the stars come out
I see a meteor shower and realize what this was all about
You were always on a fool’s errand and claiming you could be
Just like the heroes of old, but I wasn’t listening
Foolish here you thought you could actually fly
And stop the falling stars far off in the sky?
I should have realized before how far you might go
But I’m the fool now
I should have known


1/19/11

By Elizabeth Azpurua

Title credit: Alex Bach

Cardinal

Cardinal, cardinal, tell me the reason
tell me the why and sing me a season
bring forth the rain on colors of gold
inside the richness bring oranges bold
When all this mess is hurting my soul
take back the wrong; make me whole
I'll watch from windows while you sing
offering to me hope born on a wing
Cardinal, cardinal tell me why life is
and why I can never, ever be his
I want the colors to explain to me why
In reds and golds and oranges high
Let them give words to the music you bring
Cardinal, cardinal bring love on a wing

By Elizabeth Azpurua