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


 

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

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

Turtle Dove Singing of a Hopeless Love

Partridge in the pear tree, tell me, tell me
Where has Cardinal gone?
Will he come back soon, I wonder?
Will his sojourn be long?
Sometimes birds have to fly away during winter
Maybe this place is too cold?
Will you wait here with me, Partridge?
I need someone to hold
I am just a turtle dove, waiting on the rain
but I fear the snow will come before I can say
"Spring is a new day, hello, hello Spring"
but I can't sing that welcoming song when the snow is on the way
Perhaps, I'll sing alone
Perhaps you'll leave me too
Cardinal has gone far away
and I don't know what to do
I have a nest to keep and I have a song to sing
the mourning song of wintertime
I am just a turtle dove singing of a hopeless love
and you're stuck in that pear tree
Do you, do you think it'll be OK come spring?
Do you, do you think I'll have a welcoming song to sing?
I am hoping for the rain...but there's snow on the way
Partridge, my feathered friend, how shall we weather on?
I am still singing a forgotten lonesome song
Do you think Cardinal will return to these trees?
I am hoping winter will somehow soon leave
I am just a turtle dove singing of a hopeless love
and you're just a partridge in a tree
Cardinal is a striking bird and he's flown from you and me
But maybe he'll return once I sing to welcome spring

by Elizabeth Azpurua

I Love You in Hope Disguised as a Red Winged Bird

"Flash of Red"

Little flash of red up in the tree
reminds me of hope for you and me
The symbol that someday we shall be fine
a hope I'll hold to and claim as mine
I'll stand by you no matter what you do
No matter what they say or claim was true
That little flash of red sealed inside for me
the choice I made long ago of loyalty
I feel you in ways I never knew could be
I feel your trembling soul so carefully
You can sit here and be so strong
enduring well, enduring long
You become for me a reason just to try
A reason to believe in a hope that I can fly
We can sit and lay out our promises here
to stand together year after year
A little flash of red up in the tree
reminds me of hope for you and me

10/29/11

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"Loving You"

They say, they say you're not worth it
within in their actions
and their reactions
They say, they say that you're stained
that somehow you're marred
because you've been scarred
They say, they say with their glances
that you do not deserve any more chances
but I say, I say with my resolute proclamation
I will not dwindle in weak kneed consternation
Do not mock me
For loving
They say, they say that can't trust you
always expecting your downfall
But they don't know your call
They say, they say I should move on
as if you're not worth it
they say just to forfeit
They say, they say with their glances
You're not worthy of second chances
but who are they to deny what I have seen?
They cannot envision what has been foreseen
But they mock me
For loving
So I say, I say that I trust you
I know you and love who you are
You are like my one wishing star
And I say, I say you're worth this
worth all the waiting
and my soul's debating
I'll say, I'll say in my glances
You're worth limitless chances
I know inside you're gonna make it out
And that you'll discover what you're about
So don't mock me
For loving.........
..........you.


10/29/11

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"Disguised Hope"

I just want to say I am not crazy
I take the signs from God and heed them well
and when I'm scared of what's to come or could be
I always know from him and I'm OK
So when I'm driving to your home or from your home or all alone
and the trees are blurred while tears sting my eyes
feeling hopeless for these people just don't know you like I do
I am driving too fast
thinking about you
And then they fly
from the trees to the road
and I slow down
and I watch them as they go
and their wings catch the light in crimson shades
and I always make it home safe
So tell me, tell me is it a sign?
A sign to hold to hope in this disguise?
Cardinals are visiting my journey to and fro
and carrying hope with them wherever they go
All I know is crying while I cannot see the end
is never going to make it better now
but God will guide me and help me on my way
just around the bend
a red bird is in that tree


By Elizabeth Azpurua

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

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

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