Knight

 

Like a knight of some old-fashioned book

I came to you from a remote country

I used words 

you never heard before

and you smiled

to make me understand

that you did not understand me

I had lived a life

where songs were finished in a sob

and I had remained 

a passer-by in the eyes of God

I had wandered too long

in landscapes 

of impossible loves

Beloved

I knew it 

long before I came 

life is but an endless poem

a noteless song

on the lips of a mute beggar

the streets used to recite 

some kind of prayer in the dark

way before I realized

that I was mortal

I feel like an old knight

Spanish by descent

and deprived of his windmills

and if I smile at you

the world will know a new dawn

even if you do not smile back

and  tell me abruptly

that a am too well-known

a stranger

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

New Life

Today at noon

butterflies came back

waltzing with daffodils

and daisies

on the lawn

there is a new melody 

in the air

packed with birds

chirping

and far away songs

of unknown insects

the snowy shroud of Winter

is exiled 

on mountain tops

and hope

is springing back

in rosebuds

and shy lizards

basking 

in the sun

a thousand-faced crowd

is peeping

through death

looking for 

a new life

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Dreaming awake

Dreaming awake

I visited lots of places

and came back unaware

of the subtleties of memories

Friends tried to convert me

to their private heresies

and left 

when they realized

that I had my own salvation planned

in a bundle of prayers 

and intercessions

Spring came yesterday

a daisy storm on the lawn

and a lighter shade of blue

in the morning sky

I defined every single item

of my broken life

I am free

and I belong here

Here where sparrows 

act like angels

silently invading 

the praying hands of the trees

that have worn 

their gloves of buds and flowers

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Exile/流亡

With all your hopes gone

you can stop moaning

and live on

the mere logic of days and night

will become your liturgy

until you enter

the tomb of time

no words can soothe your pain

the minute you realize

that you are not everlasting

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

The soul of my dreams

The soul of my dreams

boarded my nights

towards the soft evening

of a distant ocean

books read

whose authors I loved or hated

have covered the beaches

with unforeseen tides

the garden of delights

matured its fruit

under the blonde sun

of my fancy

on a friendly bank

and up there

 in the sky

as a moving lighthouse

filled with sweet music

a lark suddenly melted

in a blue cloud

and it never came back

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Fake

In a world of make believe

your surprised your foes

by accepting them

for what they pretended to be

you let them imagine

that their uselessness

was but an important ornament

of their petty lives

masking their void

with a garment of mist

they smiled at you

satisfied with your complacency

and flattered by your acceptance

and you left then happy

for no reason at all

in your gardens you sometimes have

a bindweed that imagines

that it is a rose

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Exil/Exile/流亡

You never gave me any reason

to give up the sweet harmony

of words and thoughts and tears

let my eyes water

the landscapes I love

and the dark places I fear

take a break

from the unforgettable plans

that were to change your life 

into a social nightmare

and an acceptable ordeal

in the heart of silence

an immense hope has come up

denying all kinds of dawns

and pressing your soul to accept

the meaningful fate of roses

you then defined all deaths

because in your wisdom

you see a light

that overcomes all your petty darkness

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

They came unnoticed

They came unnoticed

between night and day

clad in clouds and mist

and their presence hushed down

by the tender whisper

of the rain on the pond

nobody saw them

except a young child in his slumber

who pointed at them and smiled

a smile of hope and melody

when a lightning flashed in the air

half of their figures appeared

silver bodies that passed by

on the edge of a slippery path

you sensed their presence

but like a hound dog

you stopped moving at once

meaning your soul to abide

by the mystery of their visitation

and the testimony of their frailty

next you fell asleep

and when you woke up

rainbows were on sale

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Dance your life away

Dance these days

of sweet youthful tempo

in the ballroom of the past

the concert is empty though

the orchestra is gone

but the music remains in your mind

a smile like a scar on your face

you can imagine

that life will always

save the last dance for you

you were sentenced 

to several years of nostalgia

with but the possible cure

of deadly oblivion

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

He

+

დევნილობაში

[devnilobachi]

+

Strong in his beliefs

he passed by life

like a humble pilgrim

redeeming time with eternity

and forgiving offenses

as if they were dewdrops

on a Summer morning

One day he ended up

in a very strange land

where people had replaced their soul

with money and power

it takes a great man

to ignore curses

and a poor one

to know the value of holiness

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Words

Clad in their self-proclaimed importance

they talked vainly

believing their words 

to be of utter importance

for their bored to tears listeners

the latter

their soul yawning inside

wished they had earlids

to escape the mortal trance

of these insane chatterboxes

outside the conference room

in the true real world

of ordinary people

the rate of exchange of lilies and roses

remained the same

and the sun the moon 

and the stars

remained the same

and the silence that followed their speeches

sounded like a blessed symphony

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Exiles

They are suddenly lost

in the mysterious labyrinth

of grief 

and wounded faith

hesitating between tears

silence 

and revolt

their souls maimed with mourning

and their hearts

drowned in despair

their sadness is a dungheap

in the midst of a beautiful garden

but the smell of death prevails

and 

nobody can offer solace

to Prophet Job

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Désert

صحراء

I came back home

my youthful mind loaded

with memories and hopes

and my soul expecting

the subtle tenderness

of sweet welcoming words

but you were almost silent

and you left me puzzled

in the middle of a sentence

you never finished

your dog came 

wagging its tail

as if to make up

for your rudeness

and thus I entered

the present

of my maimed past

with the assurance 

that death could come 

at any time

and your dog 

was still cheerful 

...

In the desert of old

locusts and bees

kept company to John

and fed him

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Innocence

In the innocence of her youth

unknowingly

she uttered light words

turning trivial conversation 

into secret pleasure

I pretended to ignore them

and she then clad her thoughts

in a vestment of laughter

preferring the irony of smiles

to the tedious curse of silence

or embarrassment

She then left 

and I was quite puzzled

deprived of the old pleasure

of having the last word

And moved deep inside myself

with a tiny injury

that seemed like a scar in my heart

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Homecoming

Back from holidays

My soul completely renewed

But life has not changed

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

+

Haiku written for 

Haiku Heights

+

(Photograph/ The Alps from my window)

蝸牛/カタツムリ

Small snail on the rock

You carry your tiny shell

As I do my past

But nobody sees

All the tears I've left behind

To move on in life

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Sky/Heaven?

The arms of the trees

prevent the breath of the sky

from entering the landscape

the day is breaking

into foam and coming rain

no time to think about 

delirious and useless metaphors

to accept the planned storm

you did cut yourself from memories

a long time ago

when you thought that you could

live a life without roots

and survive 

in a no-God's land

the arms of the trees

will resist as they can

but your mind will burst out

under the pressure of a guilt

you never perceived

stuck as you were

in the midst of nostalgia

and hope

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Carillon/ Wind Chime

Credits: wind chime

音楽

Not one gust of wind

Since they departed from life-

The wind chime's silent

+

Pas un brin de vent

Ils ont déserté la vie-

Carillon muet

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

Ecrit pour la joute poétique

TACKLE IT TUESDAY

Haiku Suite for my Beloved

愛 

First there was friendship

Then the world became tender

And now I love thee

When I happen to call thee

The flowers of my garden

Dispense their fragrance

Birds high in the sky

And the splendid butterflies

Pay thee a tribute

It seems that my heart

Repeats again and again

Thy beloved name

Thou art a mountain

Clad with the purest of clouds

Reaching to Heaven

First I lived in Time

Now owing to thy presence

I am eternal

Claude Lopez-Ginisty


written for 
Haïku Heighty 153

Books

Books

like shutters

one opens 

after a miserable night

on a gorgeous sunny morning

Books

like old friends

one listens to

even if the story they offer

has been heard a thousand times

Books

like paper fans

one simply uses 

to refresh one's mind

after a long boring day

Books

always ready

to erase

the gloomy shadows

of unwanted reality

Books

that humbly teach 

to read to write

to dream

and to pray

Claude Lopez-Ginisty