It's Not How Many Notes You Play

It’s not how many notes
How many notes you play
It’s the spaces in between
Like lines between words 

Of woe or endearment
It's the silence 

That lingers in the air
Silence that lingers 

After making love
Spaces in between - lines, notes, words
Silence floats 

Peacefully above
Floats peacefully 

While lovers embrace
Quiet gentle embrace 

Where words
Like notes 

Are better left to linger
In the reverie 

Of perfection - unspoken
It’s not how many notes you play

It’s the spaces in between
It’s not how many words you say…

© 2014 TrilbyYates 

Fair Winds And Following Seas

Sea breeze - a few glasses of wine
Conversations that go astray
Loose lips sail ships
From the traditional
“…what if’s…”
“…would you…”
Promises we do not need
Insecurities come to light
While others are put to rest
Love is not a link
In a chain that binds
But instead the feathers
In an angel’s wings
Teaching us how to fly
And as we hold on to one another
Wrapped in a blanket of delight
If there is never a second 
Crossing of our paths
Wishing you always…
 
"Fair Winds and Following Seas."


© 2014 TrilbyYates

End Of Summer Collection Part 1

You Can Call Me Scarlet

Let’s take a walk
down the avenue
buy roasted chestnuts in September
you can hold my hand
while wearing your best disguise
smile and whisper seductively
"…baby you are so easy on the eyes…"
 
You can call me Scarlet ~

© 2014 TrilbyYates 


Women Of The Sea

The wind rages from the west
Across the main land filling sails
Sending the day from 

Point to point
Tack
Mainsail luff
"Come about…”
A thought that never makes its way
From brain wave to verbal vibration -
All hands on deck a solo act
When solitude is the destination
Of least resistance
Peace rises between layers
Of wind and cloud
9 knots with 8 foot swells
Adrenalin hits a high note
As if Satchmo were crew
Blowing old favorites
From a time when life was a mystery
Or what we thought it could be –
Temptation drifts off
Into the slow burn of a sunset
Memories find a harmonious harbor
To rest during an inevitable storm
Slow sway
Sentimental echo
Making lovers dance
Babies dream  
While women of the sea
Gaze beyond the horizon…

© 2014 TrilbyYates 

Light and Dark

Light and Dark 

(from Windows Of The World 2001, by T. Yates) Complete Piece

Heart aches uncontrollably
I feel very lost
So much of what we knew is in rubble
People pass by with hollow eyes –
They shudder too often without warning
I flinch and hold my breath when an airplane fly’s overhead
Sirens scream and recreate that ghastly moment –
Flashbacks and denial walk hand in hand as if familiar lovers
How does one get beyond such a monumental tear? 
The sound of an intentional ripping is heard in every corner of this city
Where is the dark and light, the tall and short of it all? 
We always played in the shadows – light and dark, our comrades
Now we have nothing to depend on, except uncertainty

To my left is a firehouse
My eyes overflow
I don’t hide my sadness
The candles flicker in the dark
Illuminating the stars and stripes
Our brothers, our sisters, their pictures – 
Images of life gone by, while others remain
Leaving powerful love notes taped to the windows
Begging their God to be kinder next time around

A priest passed by me 
With the arms of the firefighters 
Carrying his presence to the alter
His head fell in an amazingly peaceful pose
His face gentle and calm
A hallow of dust floated around his head like a sorrowful crown
His Rosary still in hand
Angel’s wings in full flutter guiding the soldier
Taking him home

A few months later...

Some of the babies have been born
Bitter sweet rejoices are heard around the world
As cries of innocence take their first hard gasp of breath
The child cries in all of us as it did when the band stopped 
Playing our favorite songs in 1993
The songs repeat and fade in our minds - twirl and dance
In our desperation, we instinctively and frantically 
Reach out to hold the tune close 
As it slips away again in 2001
Our hands linger in mid air for endless moments
Questioning continually questioning...

It’s our dance
Our two-step
The footings never change –
The dark and light of it will lead the way
We will faithfully follow
The blind leading the blind
We will listen as the mute speak for the deaf
The lame take their first steps

Our eyes could have been eternally shut
Voices never spoken
Our cries never heard 
We could have crawled on our bellies 
Out from under the rubble…
We were carried, we walked
We helped one another
We stood in the choking cloud of destruction 
And came to meet the dark
Face to unknown face
Walking in the direction of the beaming light

A beacon in the mist 
Of our own clouded memories
Instantly became clear
As if a God had reached out 
And sent all of us the same map –
Directions to a brighter future
All accepting unconditionally without question
The sheep being led to greener pastures
We walk with our hearts pinned to our sleeve
And share a battered sense of unity...

Trilby Yates, September 2001



© 2014 TrilbyYates 

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