Elements

Each time you fall in love
Your heart aligns with some
Combined force of elements
To express its true nature.

Some couples are like earth,
Stable, and reliable as granite.
Their roots go deep into the
Mantle of the earth and beyond.

Some burst forth with fire,
As explosive as a backdraft
And over just as quickly.
They shine brilliant as the sun.

Others still flow like waters
As tumultuous as the ocean,
With bouts of quiet calm in
Between furious storm winds.

Our love, dear, is like the air:
Hardest to find and to break.
Loving you is as simple as taking
A deep breath on a clear morning.

When others ask us how we do it,
We shrug and breathe our love in.

MSBQ

Her Name Means River

Her real name is known
To only those ancient
Enough to remember the
Deserts as ocean floors
And all lands as one.
The lakes are where they
Say she was birthed,
Though who can say
If those stories are true.

You can feel her pulse
When you reach into
The mineral-rich silt or
As you listen to the
Rushing water crash
In perfect rhythm over
The smoothed stones.

Our ancestors called her
A seasonal bourn, prone
To droughts and flooding.
As much as they needed
Her flowing waters, she
Couldn’t have cared less.
When heavy rains came,
Her banks overflowed in
Muddy, frigid waters that
Took bridges and carts
And lives along with it.

Try as we might, we are
Pathetically helpless to
Her never-ending flow.
The wise knew to react
Only with kindness, to
Send her a tribute for
The tributary, and to
Thank her waters for
Providing them with life.

MSBQ

Dangerous Scales

Most people think
Of the ocean as
Peaceful, serene;
But they could not
Be more wrong.

Beneath the waves
Lies a world full of
Dangerous scales.
Light up above and
Only death below,
And each current
Brings endless rows
Of predators’ teeth
And stifled cries for
Help, god, help
As they are ripped
To the bones.

Though it may be
A disquiet place,
The sea conveys a
Deeper balance of
Life and death.

MSBQ

Mina el Hosn

Endless waves collide
Against the sea-wall along
The promenade, each row
Of palm trees swaying in
The breathy wind coming
In off the Mediterranean.

Though Cyprus lies only
A few miles off-shore, it’s
Shrouded in the haze from
The forgotten ships that
Once lined these docks,
Trading goods from afar.

Beirut stands as it always
Has: ancient and modern,
A thousand languages and
Too many stories to count.
Now, it has become home
For those who have fled.

It may seem a paradise
Steeped in sunlight’s rays,
But these streets will speak
If you are willing to listen.
Voices as old as the waves
Always yearn for the sea.

MSBQ

Surrender

The surface of the lake
Looked as placid as glass
As it reflected the late
July noon back at itself.
His parents had said that
They could swim there
As often as they liked,
But each time he waded
Out into the murky green
Waves, his heart told him no.

He recalled, later, how his
Biggest fear had always been
Feeling something alive
On the bottom of the lake,
Limp arms like tentacles
Grasping his legs, dragging
Him down into the darkness.
“Come on out, Timothy,”
His older brother called
From the anchored dock.
He did not want to seem
That he was afraid, so he
Held his breath and leapt.

Looking upwards, the many
Ripples on the surface above
Shimmered endlessly, making
A living sky of gold and green…
As they pulled his body out,
His eyes were still open in
Eternal wonder and awe.

Ninety seconds later,
He coughed up the water
From his desperate lungs.
He would live on. However,
That brief moment of pure
Tranquillity, looking up at
The rainbowed surface,
Would remain with him
To the end of his days.

MSBQ