Author: Jennifer Liston

I wrote this 20 years ago, and it was included in my first poetry collection, Exposure, which was published by Ginninderra Press in 2003.

I took a big red pen to it recently, however, and I feel it’s a bit better now, even though it could probably still do with more editing.

A prayer

By the light of the moon
in this sacred place
no glorious visitation
enthralls me.
No wondrous vision
assails my eyes
and clears this clouded mind.
As I talk to you
(half-expecting an answer),
all is quiet.

Can you hear me whisper in the shadows of night?
Do you see my hopes and dreams take flight?
Can you hear the pleas of my heart?
Do you feel the pain we feel, being apart?

Still,
no sound.
No startling revelation
comforts my soul
and enlightens my mind.
With heavy heart
and limbs growing cold
I turn down the path towards home.

And softly you follow.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2006

Because of the day that’s in it, here’s a poem from one of my favourite French poets, Jacques Prévert.

It’s called Je suis comme je suis (I am as I am), from a collection of his called Paroles. The book was given to me a long time ago by my dear friend Marie-Laure. Enjoy.

Je suis comme je suis

Je suis comme je suis
Je suis faite comme ça
Quand j’ai envie de rire
Oui je ris aux éclats
J’aime celui qui m’aime
Est-ce ma faute à moi
Si ce n’est pas le même
Que j’aime à chaque fois
Je suis comme je suis
Je suis faite comme ça
Que voulez-vous de plus
Que voulez-vous de moi

Je suis faite pour plaire
Et n’y puis rien changer
Mes talons sont trop hauts
Ma taille trop cambrée
Mes seins beaucoup trop durs
Et mes yeux trop cernés
Et puis après
Qu’est-ce que ça peut vous faire

Je suis comme je suis
Je plais à qui je plais
Qu’est-ce que ça peut vous faire
Ce qui m’est arrivé
Oui j’ai aimé quelqu’un
Oui quelqu’un m’a aimée
Comme les enfants qui s’aiment
Simplement savent aimer
Aimer aimer…
Pourquoi me questionner
Je suis là pour vous plaire
Et n’y puis rien changer.

How do we measure
the pleasure
of the population’s
copulation?
Is passion
a fashion?
…

…if you want to read the rest of this poem, you’ll just have to buy my second poetry collection when it’s published.

…you can do or dream you can, begin it!

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

— Goethe

Each moment is a
BIG
BANG:

the creation
of an infinite number
of possible futures
that extend
g l o r i o u s l y.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2006

The Beautiful One has a beautiful little girl. She’s a chip off the old block, that’s for sure. I hope this captures the essence of their beautiful relationship.

This poem will probably be included in my second collection.

Daddy’s girl

Gold head
blue-eyed replica
of your beautiful father.
You carry
your Daddy’s dreams
in miniature.
Fine blonde strands
delicate threads
of hope.
He swaddles your
honey’d limbs
and winning grins
in carefully woven
cloths of aspiration,
willing you
a glowing future.
He lullabies you
to dreams
so that you may wake
to a perfect world.
Every beat
of your little-girl heart
reverberates
in his big-man halls of music.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2006

A beautiful, simple Irish poem by Seamas O’Neill (1910-1981) that I learned at school (taken from Favourite Poems We Learned In School As Gaeilge, compiled by Thomas F. Walsh, Mercier Press 1994):

Subh Mhilis

Bhí subh mhilis
Ar bhoschrann an dorais,
Ach mhúch me an corraí
Ionam a d’éirigh,

Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá
A bheas an bhoschrann glan,
Agus an lámh bheag
Ar iarraidh.

And here’s my doesn’t-do-it-justice translation:

Jam

There was jam
on the door handle
but I held back the anger
that was beginning to rise

because I thought of the day
when the door handle would be clean
and the little hand
gone away.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2002

Why is it
so difficult
to break out
of the nightmares
we create
so easily?

This little poem is from the vault, and was also included in my first poetry collection, Exposure, which was published by Ginninderra Press in 2003.

Half life

A half promise in his eyes,
a half-tone in his voice
and I die
in anticipation:
life seems to be
a series of deaths.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2003

An appropriate poem for the day that’s in it…. this is also in my collection, Exposure, which was published by Ginninderra Press in 2003. Enjoy.

Solstice charm

On a June evening
the day almost ended
magic descended.
In an Adelaide hotel
a mysterious spell
weaved its way
between two struggling souls.
Angels
in mortals’ guise
rendered surprise
assistance.
A sensual kiss
mystical recognition
of what was past
and what might be.
Warmth,
fire,
desire
and strange symbols
stir up
a witches’ brew
of possibilities.
Between enchanted smiles
and sighs
they tentatively step
on the path to repair.
Bewitched lips
and eyes
beg for guidance
and healing.
Irrepressible grins
belie the sins
beneath.
Both charmed,
both disarmed
by the gentle fragility
and perfect clarity
of those tender moments
one June evening.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2003