Dah Helmer

4. Sadder Than Anything

An umbrella moves

through the rain

and in between each drop

emptiness

Morning’s broken light

far from the sun

trips over the rooftops

into the wind’s mouth

passes

over my eyes

and I hear footsteps

alone on the sidewalk

alone in the rain

only to stop and wait

for a dream or a green light

Then time passes

even darker

and from the sidelines

a burly boom

of far-off thunder

Raindrops tangle in my hair

raindrops sadder than anything

Neruda has written

5. Useless Thoughts

Dark afternoon

light is blocked

Along the street

water streams noiselessly

falls into a hole

dwindles its time away

Winter is lonely

In its long sleep the shortest day

barely breathes

A somber gray

hangs in the air

the wind trills

like a cry

Looking out the window

my time dwindles away

and my thoughts pile up

My useless thoughts

that I store in notebooks

and drag through life

for no reason than

they are mine

Dah Helmer © 2015

6. February

A bold frost hinders the heat

Wind rocks the dead flowers,

glass chimes, the old figs

A single bee asleep in flight

I have words to say about this

but they are frozen on my tongue

A few silent black birds

small bodies of coal

sway on branches

maybe napping, maybe dreaming

of a world they love

I lift my eyes

look at the February sky

ice cuts like malicious glass

then hardens my blood

At my feet

the affection of a cat’s rub

against my legs

Today I am not the one

to give it love

Still, I lean down

touch its head

and this thoughtless motion

better than absence

fills the emptiness

like a mother’s breath

a father’s cough

Dah Helmer © 2015