Poetry Scrolls

How gentle is the rain
How generous the rain
leaving rain-diamonds on my lashes
rain-pearls beading my black eyebrows
misty rain frost on my forehead gilds it silver
spangles my night-dark cloak with a thousand tiny rain-stars
largesse scattered by the nobility in the clouds.

1. I'm a quiet sort of dragon,   9. I hope you find me amiable
I don't like to impose           Although I know I'm shy
You might not even notice me     You look, and see a dragon
as I sit and read, or doze       --if only you would try

2. I have unobtrusive habits     10. To get to know me better
I don't breathe smoke or fire    before you should decide
I prefer to snack on pastries    to try to take a swing at me
and play soft tunes on my lyre   or go and run and hide

3. I'd not be called distinctive 11. My cave is sort of messy
I'm neither short nor tall       But feel free to visit me
My coloring is mousy             I'd be happy to cook dinner
I don't stand out at all         and brew a pot of tea

4. I'm not the least bit fierce  12. Bring some poetry to read
I don't joust or kidnap lasses   a song or two to sing
Quiet walks are to my liking  or we'll just make conversation
I can't see without my glasses   (about almost anything)

5. I'm not inclined to rampage   13. Round up a friend or two
I very seldom roar              (for you, it shan't be hard)
Even when I'm sound asleep      We could play at dragon games
I never, ever, snore            and a genteel hand of cards

6.I've a quiet taste in clothing 14.A dragon does get lonely
and a simple taste in wine       and pine for friends a bit
Earthy colors fit me well        Our looks make us unpopular
and red rose' suits me just fine (deservedly, I must admit)

7. My hoard is unspectacular    15. Yet, despite our ugly faces
no jewels displayed for looks   Our hearts are very kind
I sleep only moss, not gold     We're generous companions
and all I guard are books.      With clever, nimble minds

8. No social butterfly am I   16. So please, do not be frightened
I don't get out a lot         when I glide into view
But the dainties I embroider  And do accept the invitation
are all the rage in Camalot   which I extend to you.

"Ignorance is bliss", they say
Well, that may be;
It's enough to make me ask
"Is knowledge any use to me?"
Better to refrain from learning
Better to be glad not knowing.

"Ignorance is bliss", they say--
better if you don't know.
Hide your head, down deep in the sand
it won't bother you, down below.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
Better off not knowing.

"Ignorance is bliss", they say
Well, then I a masochist must be;
Because I can't avert my face
when the news comes on the color T.V.
Beacuse I torture myself with reading
Because I refuse to deny seeing.

"Ignorance is bliss", they say
Well, they aren't always right.
I care not how others ma stop their ears
and I'll look as long as I have sight.
Because someone must see the wrong
in order to do right.

"Ignorance is bliss", they say
Well, say it to me in vain;
For nothing worth having is free,
and the struggle for wisdom is worth the pain.
Because it means never surrendering
To the darkness unending.

A.K. Novak

Imagine that you looked into the night sky and saw a shooting star...for just the briefest instant. Of course, you'll remember it...faintly, in some corner of your mind...because it's not every day that you see a shooting star. But it won't mark your life. It'll slip into the back of your mond sooner or later. Then someday, someone will ask, "Did you ever see a shooting star?" and for a moment, you'll remember...

But what if...in that bright, flashing, nanosecond--the star also saw you? What if, as it streaked by, coming out of cold, lonely, space, returning to cold, lonely, space...It saw you for an instant. It looked into your eyes. And it never forgot.

You will be on beautiful, vibrant, earth, surrounded by warm, living things for the rest of your life. The star will be in the cold vacuum of space, surrounded by relentless cosmic rays, unfeeling behemoth suns, frozen, lifeless flotsam...for close to eternity. The only thing that will warm its cold, lonely star-heart through the millenia in the void is its memory of the warmth in your eyes.

Could you blame this shooting star for falling in love with you?

Should it be so surprising that its poor frozen heart broke...to imagine it would never see you again?

I am just a lonely shooting star...all alone in the void, and now you are gone.

I hope that perhaps, someday...someone will ask you if you saw me...and that, for a moment, you will remember. I hope that you will remember my light. Even if it did seem cold.

The warmth in your eyes is all that is left to me.

The Bay is shining silver,
the city, softly gray
Through leaves' green, transparent, Kingdom
where butterflies hold sway
The silver sun's pale sky-blue mantle
where brisk wind dragons play
Shows no sign of dark'ning
in the waning of this day
Gleaming Eucalyptus fluffs
if you could, what would you say?
"This silvered instant, always,
if we only had our way."

I believe that crisply frozen, glacial ice-clear night
was all hell's worst demons' first delight
sound shattered frozen air into shards so razor-thin
they gathered up the shards and found some hearts to put them in.

"The wind blows so cold from the mountains in the moon
and the devil plays his handbells all out of tune
A big straight pin holds it all up, as anyone can see
And when God pulls it out, what becomes of me?"

"I suppose it hardly matters
if my small life shatters
The world is unaware I even exist--
If I were to be gone, I would not be missed."

"Ice-arrows in the starlight are piercing me, I find
One has struck my head, and all is numbness in my mind
My soul is cracking from a wound of cold so I can't see
When God pulls out that great straight pin to end my misery."

There were taunting voices floating in the void of frozen ink
those demons didn't wish me to know what I really think
They whispered me to reach for false stars not near at all
and didn't want me to realize how quickly I would fall

I was perched, all still and statue-like, alone
Upon a block, ten stories up, a monument of stone
They tried to bid the shivering wind to freeze my blood in place
But though I was worn out with cold my live blood won the race.

They whispered, "How many here would remember your name?"
Still (half-ice) I thought--I think--if it were all the same--
In the end, the choice is truly given to small Me--
and I for one would really sooner be--than not be.

       Rough cloth binding against my hands
 I look up from a desk in the library
For a moment breathless
  from breathing the heady aroma
of the friendship
  between Li Po and Tu Fu

Between thee and I
I see a wall of ice
With no door.
When sometimes, I
touch it
the cold between
the cold burns.
When sometimes, I see
through it
It looks so warm inside
I could try to climb
over; but it is slick,
high, and
so very,
very,
cold.
I could try to break
it; but the splinters
chould impale me.
I could
lean
and lean
and lean
against it; but by the time
I melted it through, I should
be wet
and cold
and sick
and miserable
And look a pathetic mess
Beside those
warm
within
Sometimes, I think a
warm hand reaches
out-like the ice
isn't there!--but
it never lasts
So I stay outside
It is unconfining,
free...
But so very
dark
and
cold .

A.K. Novak

Though the mountains...

I walk upon the mountains
yet
I'm not up very high
I stand upon their mighty peaks
yet
do not approach the sky
My mind sees them as they once were
tall Hill Lords, proud and just
My eyes see them as they are 
now
crumbled into dust.

You are so beautiful in
my blind eyes So fragile
compared to my sturdy self I
look at you and just want to
protect you from all the
things that scare
you to keep you safe and
warm and take care of you I
am strong All dragons are Why are
you running from me Why are you
afraid I am not here to hurt
you I thought you knew I have
never been deliberately cruel I
am just Really really
misunderstood
I am gentle I always have
been It is just so hard to
express it with this
face and these hands and
my sharp tongue I tried
to make myself nicer
Better
less scary
To make you love me
Maybe you could kiss
me and make me into something
beautiful No I
don't suppose so I don't
suppose I have the
right to talk about
love I don't know what love
is I don't think I
could recognize it I am
sorry I ever bothered you with the odd
notion that I might love you
yet
I don't know what else to call it
Because I held out my hear to you
so timidly in my clumsy ugly hand and
you swatted it away
like an insect
and when it fell is smashed
into a million tiny
bits and I never found them It
must have been glass to shatter
like that And whoever heard of a
glass heart
beaing able to feel love?
How absurd.

A.K. Novak

A.K. Novak

A todos mis queridos que se fueron...

"Adios" es una palabra triste,
porque la signifique amigos no son juntos.
"Adios" es una palabra triste,
cuando es la palabra se debe decir a su familia.
"Adios" es una palabra muy triste
cuando su novio le dijo' por fin...
No me gusta por nada
esta palabra.

Prefiero palabras como, "Hasta luego,"
o tal vez, "Nos vemos."
Son palabras de esparanza,
que signifique encontra'ramos otra vez
(aun cuando no somos seguros de ese).

Pero, a veces..."Adios" es necessario;
porque, cuando llegue el fin...
No hay otras palabras
Solamente, "Adios",
y...
estoy triste,
porque he usado
esta palabra
demasiado.

A.K. Novak

TRANSLATION

To all my dear ones who have gone...
"Goodbye" is a sad word,
because it means that friends aren't together.
"Goodbye" is a sad word
when one needs to say it to one's family.
"Goodbye" is a very sad word,
when your beloved says it to you in the end...
I don't like this word.

I prefer "Until later"
or perhaps, "See you soon."
They are words of hope
that mean we'll meet again
(Even if we aren't certain of it.)

But sometimes..."Goodbye" is necessary
Because when the end comes...
There are no other words
and...
I am sad,
Because I have used
this word
too often.

A.K. Novak

Felicidad

?Que' es la felicidad?
Mucha gente la busca, pero poca la encuentra. Pero...?que' es la que busquen?
Pues...
creo es despertarse sin preocuparse.
Es encotrar una florita que sobrevive en la calle.
Es una carta romantica de algien especial.
Es el sol amiable despues de la tormenta maravillosa.
Es el llueve suave despues de la gran seca.
Es la lealtad y amor de sus amigos.

Es el sentido que todo esta' bien en el mundo.
Tal vez es la emocio'n ma's buena que todos.
Y se puede buscarla toda la vida....
pero no es un regalo--nada de afuera del corazo'n.
Si no se puede ganarla por sus propios hechos, nunca encontrarla.

A.K. Novak

Happiness

What is happiness?
Many people search for it, but few find it.
But...what is it they are looking for?

Well...
I think it is to enjoy oneself without worrying.
It is to find a tiny flower surviving in the sidewalk.
It is to recieve a romantic letter from someone special.
It is a friendly sun after a spectacular storm.
It is a soft rain after a long drought.
It is the loyalty and love of ones' friends.

It is the feeling that everything is right with the world.
Maybe it is the greatest emotion of all.
And one can seek it throughout life...
but it is no free gift--nothing from outside the heart.
If one cannot win it through one's own deeds,
it will never be found.

A.K. Novak

El dicho es asi:
Donde hay la luz,
tambien hay sombras.

Yo digo asi:
la luz no puede ser
sin las sombras.

Eso yo digo
porque
porque
porque...
Porque, si el mundo fuera lleno de la luz
Nunca la pagamos atencio'n;
pero, porque el mundo pasa en sombras
y la vida, en dolores
queremos la luz
y buscamos la esperanza
como un hombre pizcado por un serpiente
busca la medicina
contra el veni'n.

Por eso
No temo las sombras.

No temo el venin
ni la tormenta.
No temo la noche.

No temo el muerte.

Porque yo se' muy bien
Las sombras signifique la luz ha llegado.
Estuviere contenta
esperar como una oruga
con los muertes
en una tumba hecho por mis manos propios

Hasta el dia santa
cuando volare con los demas
como una mariposa.

A.K. Novak

The saying is thus:
Where there is light
There are also shadows.

I speak thus:
the light cannot be
without the shadows.

Because
because
because...
Because, if the world were filled with light
we would never pay attention to it;
but, because the world goes along in shadows
and life, in sadness
We love and want the light
and seek after hope
like a man bitten by a serpent
seeks the medicine
to counteract the poison.

Because of this
I do not fear the shadows.

I neither fear the poison
nor the storm.
I do not fear the night.

I do not fear death.

Because I know very well
The shadows mean the light has arrived.
I will be content
to wait like a caterpillar
with the dead
In a tomb I built myself

Until the holy day
when I will fly with the others
like a butterfly.

A.K. Novak

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