FROM EARLY POEMS

I REACH FOR THE BLUE SKY

Black earth is in my hands

The blueness is blinding
Black earth covers my hands

The sky is beyond my reach
Black earth is in my hands


*


I BOUND WORDS

Into a wreath

I tied Your name
With a knot of longing
At the beginning
           and the end


*


In the quietness of evening,
        the underground lament
        sleeps upwards.
The day crumbles,
        becomes fertile as the earth.


*


I stretch my hands to the distance
But in the hazy light of day
I fail to reach a vision
        or a sadness.
Only the rain caresses
        my lips.


*


WREATH

From restless words
I have bound a wreath.
Past joys I entwined with memories,
Future joys with future hopes.
I have tied your name with a knot of longing
At the beginning and the end.





FROM “WHITE SHADOWS”




IN THE HOUSE
Unfamiliar light and smells

Near a long oak table
A fallen chair prayed

The sound of
Satie: Gimnopedies

The dog barked
The storm came
Pictures darkened

A silhouette passed
Half lit by the cold stars  






WITH CHILDREN'S LAUGHTER
The day began

But was stilled in the uncertainty
        of evening

I left behind
        the frayed moon

With this knife
Cut me a slice of time
                     
I yearn for daily bread
From Your hands               






THE DOOR SLAMMED
The remains of fairy stories  
        and crumbs litter the table


The wall lights up 

The wind enters
        and blows away the last grains






ON SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
Restless
I write

My dream face shatters
Into a hundred pieces

My dream hands float
From hills of down

My body
Darkens the night     






I WANT TO
Open clenched fists
And look into the palm

So that when we part
I will know
The maps of grace   






THE STRETCH OF THE SEA
Strange and familiar faces
Search for the lost path in water 

Non-existent doors slam
Windows of thought melt

Clouds break up
The sun's rays turn into snowflakes 






MY IMAGININGS TOUCH THE SUN
And the horizon does not end
The path of my thoughts

No longer the sea flows, but I flow
No longer the sun warms, but I warm

And no wave can erase
My imprint in the sand  






WALLS, NOT WINDOWS
Bear secrets

Witnesses of thought
Which our lips have forgotten

These dark keys
In the doors of night   






YOU DEPART
But do not let go

Leave the keys
Yet take the door






THE SULLEN FRESCO
Keeps vigil in the sleeping room

Near it the spider
Weaves a Fra Angelico riddle     






WEAR MY MEMORY
        as a ring

Cast
In silence        






I'M KNEELING
In the corner
Next to a heap of clothes

They have absorbed the past
But remain silent  






HUNGER PROWLS THE GRASS
The sky is pale
Clouds bony and lean
Winter eats the sun
        from my palm

The wind hides
Unbreathing 
In the valley






LAYING THE TABLE
The empty plates
The white tablecloth
The sharpness of a knife 






YOUR VOICE
        a white flame
        lit the day

On its spirals
I wish to ascend






IN THE DARK OF NIGHT
The angel fell asleep 
        beside her ash grey hair
 
The fingers of a hunched ghost
        plucked at heaven's harp
Seeking its secret strings






NIGHT AND SEA
Wind and sky
Sun and clouds
        have rejected me

Earth alone pulls
        my hand to herself






LET US PART
        in silence
Invite no words as witnesses

Let outstretched arms
Remain in our glances

Perhaps
If we meet

In the depth of our eyes
We may no longer find  
What has driven us apart






THE WIND
        erased day-dreams

Cut hair
Touched by Your lips
        blew on stone   






WE SHALL NOT RETURN
We shall never return
        to the unaltered past

I continue my journey
The sound of footsteps
        words
        a familiar voice

A book
Water boils
The sound of children at home

The ring of the phone
Letters
        and a chess board
        with no moves






THE SUN PAINTS A SASH
        on the floor

Colours are reborn

The ceilings wake
Drawers yawn from cupboards

The morning chooses its garments
For the day






SILENTLY
I meet
Your non-existence

I touch grass
Leaves of trees
A stone

But yearn
For Your touch






THE DEMENTED SEA
With white teeth
Tears at the rocks

The wind
Laments

Lightning
Has split the moon






TWILIGHT 
Shattered wind

Joins the shadows 

How can I put together 
The sun and the moon






BIRDS FLUTTER
         splash my blood

I'm the fruit in the orchard
I cast away desire
        flowers and petals






I AM THE SUN
Warming the earth

I am a bird
Flying into the distance

I am light
Travelling through space

I am a tree
Branching out into the unknown

I am a wave
Never reaching the shore

I am the horizon
Not knowing my limit

I am the world
belonging to noone

I am and I'm not    






IN MY SECRET PLACES
Stir the waves of the sea

In the waves of the sea
Stirs the beginning  






YOUR NAME IS A DISTANT FIELD FLOWER
Your name is the call of a flying bird
Your name is white iron heat
Your name is reviving crystal water

Your name has no name






I LET YOUR NAME
Cupped tighly in my hands
Fly up into the sky 






IN WHITE CORRIDORS
Bats play

Your black eyes
Thread silk strands 






WHEN SHADOWS FALL
Your presence descends

I gather memories 
Scattered to the winds






SAPPHO
Came so unnexpectedly
Embracing me
Held a mirror






ONLY SILENCE SPEAKS
Your silence returned in a dream

When we parted you said:
You are all

Deep in my dream
I turn the leaves of books
But avoid their words






MY LIES AND ANGER
I dedicate to You   

In the last confession
The legendary bird sings






WHEN YOUR HANDS
Enfolded my body

All was said
That could not be said
In words






I CUT UP OLD PHOTOGRAPHS
Toss them into the fire which
                   flickers and dies

In the corner of the fireplace
Embers fall to ashes
Having heard the lament
                 of bodies, skulls


Weisse Schatten / White Shadows – edition selene, 2000, Austria. 






FROM “SPACES OF SILENCE”





INSIDE THE WEB
         of making

we meet and find ourselves
named
           shore
                   wind
                         river bend

we carve our epics
into driftwood

tread gently
on the waters of no return






UNLESS WE DREAM
          of each other

there will be no mirror
to shine

         the image we seek






YOUR VOICE
       caught me in flight

I alighted in your palm
       for keeping






MY BIRD
scratches a letter

      on your window

while morning showers

sunlight

on white walls






I’M AFRAID
to take your hand

the lines of my palms
       nurture secrets






ACROSS DISTANCES
I trace your form

web the silk of the spider

to the hum of earth
the crashing sky


I stir the salt in air
tread sharpened rock

melt into sand






THE SNAKE RETURNS
with its eyes in the grass

              the river waiting

we have to be silent
as snake eyes of the water






BY THE WINDOW
          lilacs
whisper of cicadas

a gesture of hand
           opens
       the fern flower






THE CITY’S EYES
change colour and form

washed sky
dresses bare roofs

the day swallows the dream
among the bones of the wish






I SEE YOU

      through the door

I want my hands in your shirt

In the silver shades
       of your hair

when you see me
      the sea in our eyes

                                  opens






WITHOUT NAME
            or destination

the clarity of madness
strikes the hour






FACING GREY LIGHT
through the ashen tree

I am nobody’s song

you take root in the mirror
of the earth

I feed the birds your name






CAUGHT IN A SENTENCE
unable to retain
the lightness of feather

confusion claws
at the meaning
                        of word






WATCHING
         the distance

I burn
the colour of Autumn






CURTAINS HIDE
           the spilled ink
of yesterday’s quarrels

the stained bed-spread
the scattered books
            on the unmade bed

so many things
turn the fan of thoughts






SOMETIMES
I feel
I am in the land
         of the deaf

or is it that
I am mute

listen
in silence

to the sea
within me






THE SUN
raises
          sleepy eyes
     to circling flight
and bird song
           scattered
in trees






CLOUDS FLOAT
        with each breath

the eagles above 
the changing sea

merge into distance






NO LANGUAGE
          captures

the flight of changes

that shape
our inner shrines






DAYS GRAZE
      knowing nothing

my skin
      the illusion
of some strange necessity

pulls at the seams
of rose covered pores

        breathing bone

lung branches heave

my hair blooms
purple hydrangeas






DAYS FALL
trough slits in the sky

sun drops liquid amber
into the parched mouth
           of earth






ONE DAY
when I was no
        longer alive

I touched
on the secret of living

and glimpsed
hands knitting

a cloak
of non-being






THEY TOOK AWAY
                THE BIRDS
and left the sun
on the ground

the wings like broken fists
murmur of flight

the flicker of feather
in the sun’s aviary
of transparent shrieks






WORD SHADOWS
               pass into fear

where sounds flow
dream currents

and chant an unborn language






FROM MY MIND
grows a plant

             or a planet

I dress in moss
emerge moist

and wait
for the meeting

of two continents






YOUR VOICE
is the call

      of the bird

hearing it
       I knew






A HUNDRED CANDLES
sprang up in sleep
and lit your flesh

I watch
your melting form






YOU CIRCLE
my pattern of sleeping

and knead me
in the rise
            of morning

we drift
with linen sails

in our river of skin






YOU WAKE ME
             with breath

warming my body

and move me
to a space

where silences
receive the sun






FORGET-ME KNOT
a speck of blue

opens the sky






AMBER WASHED
to the shore

sparkle
of underground tree






BY THE LAKE
I pick clover

listen to legends
of earth as I reach

for green sky






FOREST BONES
        scratch

the shadows
of my skin






I BROKE
rye bread

and put home-made cheese
into a linen cloth

tied it with field flowers

and sent it
with birds

to my vast
Southern land






LISTENING
to the river’s flow
in the glow-worm light

I exchanged
The Southern Cross

         for the Great Bear






I WATCH
the burnt fields
of Lithuania

as though I were
Australian soil


how will I find
my way home


Tylos Erdvės / Spaces of Silence – Lithuanian / English, Lithuanian Writers Union Publisher 1999, 









FROM “WIND SHEEN”





SHEETS OF RAIN
cover my world

silver birds glint
through light

a ripple in my white cloth

the stillness of sea-shell
washes out into sand






PASSING CLOUDS
water the sea
in whispers 
of forgotten rain

my shadow stretches
beyond grey drift

mounting the slopes
       of waves
                    falling






CLOSE MY LIPS
with your voice
seagull of
velvet eyes

let us become sky
           breathing
                    sun






I STEP INTO THE SEA
scatter pomegranate
waves to the wind

salt skin flowers
into disappearance






BEFORE THE FINAL DREAM
I give back the bread
to earth and sea

who will assemble the pieces
into a loaf of sun






THE DRUM OF PINES
over ocean hum
awakens the sun
the albatross flight

sea reveals its rocks

clouds watch
the juniper blaze






YOUNG MEN
with faces like flames
sprawl the seaside
with empty bottles

girls hoist their wet
robes to the moon

serene as sea-weed clouds

the wave whale yawns
and falls asleep in the sand

starfish shine through
             
          the stones






THE OLD MAN
sits with his back
against the tomb
mending his nets

his wife
knits green sea
curtains in the shade

walking among the
stones I unravel
                     sleep






BIRDS CROSS
His shadow and
die from height

far below
screams are reborn
in the froth of
the fanged sea






ONE SEAGULL
or was it a thought
that flickered by






I RETURN
from where I came 
abandoned and found again
under transparent sky

I walk by the river 
that refuses to cry

it stretches across
time-wasted landscape
where blades split the dawn

I wade in dew grass
let the wind drum 
my barefoot existence

hands   open   clench 

I walk on riverbed stones
pick up the pebbles

throw them into a stream






THE CITY’S EYES
change colour and form

washed sky
dresses bare roofs

the day swallows the dream






MY MOTHER
           sits
               and watches
the red river gums in the creek
the daily strollers with their dogs
the roses and shrubs
she planted years ago

she nods

the white corellas screech
the kookaburras laugh

she hears

the nightingale
in her village






THE UŽUPIS*
walls of Vilnius whisper

around corners
spider webs
wait in suspense

roof drains flower

a dream born from hunger

*ex-slums of the Lithuanian capital






A DAY VEILED
in rain

when shadows of
things tremble

face echoes face
wall become mirrors






THE NIGHT
with gleaming teeth
bit the moon
in the plum-skin sky






MY FATHER
emerged from the coffin

and told me it could be
mine in the year to come

I’m bored 

he said 

below all is water
and above hungry dust

he tilted his head 
by the light of his match
I saw neither myself
                    nor another






STARLIGHT
bites through the sky

figs hang heavy with sleep






COAL ISLAND

Water
shapes a shadow

early black becomes
the deep of tree






CHANCE MEETING
of eyes
hinge on sun doors

breathless windows
slow tumble of voices
                    seeking






RED BREAD
blue wine

my love’s silent hair






I KNEW YOUR VOICE
before your name

paper soaks up
the remains of an instant

in colours
              of ink
                     and blood






TIME FREEZES
I ponder all the night 
shine my eyes 
have gathered

and stroke the moon
flakes on your sleeve






THE GIFT
of slow passing time
holds night scent

let‘s stop time
and hold each other






A HEAD FULL OF SPACE
forgets the hours

tea stirs in my cup

your face
between my thoughts






YOU SWEEP
the dust
from my mind

you bite through
the skin of my sleep

bird shadows gather
on my tongue

and sing what
memory can’t keep






WHEN EYES
follow clouds
behind 
the white ceiling

plaster and skin
memory
and pain

become one
white shadow






GREENFIELD
at dusk

our mingled breath
returns to the landscape






NOW THAT WE ARE PARTING
rain has returned

I want to be nothing
only the fragrance of some scattered
rose and pass like smoke

now that we are parting

the music will fall and settle
in the pages of your books
and wait to be opened

now that we are parting

my eyes follow invisible
birds across the ceiling

hands become wind

and earth turns faster
than a night ago

I leave a white cloud
in your hands

now that we are parting

I will dress in rain and
watch the warmth behind
some distant window slowly
take on your name






THE FIRST NOTE
of cicadas

wakes in tree tops
against the hiss of wind

dusk spreads
silver sheen
along the shore

wind turns from
salt into melon






WIND TORN MINARET
curved against heat
gathers dust

needle-brushing
the cicadas silence






A GRAIN OF WIND
returns from
the ink stained sky

bones read before time
the breath of the living

the body speech 
of the dead






GULLS SHRIEK
above sun
bitten pavement

lump sugar houses
cluster the razor
black hillside

fig tree dotted
pastures sink into
oleander sleep

amidst dragon-fly darts

and shadows shifting

the fisherboy‘s 
clarinet drawl
                unrolls
                        the sea






CRACKS OF LIGHT
between shutters 

bleached sun winds its way
from nowhere

wind sheen daggers a faded
palm out of its sleep

sea sheet unfolds over rocks

sea gulls cry the windows out






WHITE COLUMNS
in cobalt heat
steam away thought

bouzouki quivers
in half–light

lean cats loiter
under vines and
bougainvillaea

with no sea-gulls in sight
the sea stops breathing






THE BLUE WOOL
hung entangled
in her hands

she followed the thread
to its end

she buried her hands
in the sand

her eyes entered clouds
her hair spread 
dune grass

with lips of coral
she touched blue sand

and lost her fingers

                    to the sky






WIND
shapes
thought

to the other world I call
to the other world I yield






PINES
dressed
in salt-green

sway on the
edge of a cliff

each needle
threads into song


Vėjo Žvilgesys / Wind Sheen – Lithuanian / English, Petroofsetas Publisher. 2003,  Lithuania.

Šimkutė’s publications in Lithuanian: “The Second Longing” 1978, “Anchors of Memory” 1982, (USA); “Wind and Roots” 1991; (Lithuania) in English: “The Sun Paints a Sash” 2000 (USA); Bilingual: “Tylos Erdvės / Spaces of Silence” – 1999, (Lithuania); “Weisse Schatten / White Shadows” – 2000 (Austria); Iš toli ir arti / Z daleka i z buska – 2003 (Poland); Vėjo žvilgesys / Wind Sheen – 2003 (Lithuania); Mintis ir uola / Thought and Rock – 2008 (Lithuania). Šimkutė writes in Lithuanian and English and has published in various literary journals and anthologies in Australia, Lithuania and elsewhere. Her poetry is translated into thirteen languages. She has translated Australian poetry/prose and other works into Lithuanian (including David Malouf’s “An Imaginary Life”). Poetry readings in Australia, Austria, Estonia, Holland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South America, Ukraine, United States – separately and at a number of International Poetry Festivals. Šimkutė’s poetry was included in a number of Dance Performances in Australia and Europe in 2002. Her poetry collection “Spaces of Silence” was choreographed for stage with author reading, Japanese flute, modern dance and percussion at The Vilnius Art Academy Gothic Theatre and theatres in Kaunas and Klaipeda. Her poem “My father” was short listed for the “Poem of the Millennium” at the Australian Poetry Festival in 2004. She has received a number of literary grants from the Australia Council-Literature Board, South Australia Dept. for the Arts and the Australian Lithuanian Foundation. Her website: http://www.ace.net.au/lidija