/ LAU BO /
The Land of Hope
It was lit
A life lit twice
Who do I ask for permission in the sky?
My lips were bleeding last night
Hiding
From you, my refuge
There is a dead bird in my ear
And nobody to help me take it out
Iron glued to skin
Skin covered with scars
Scars that cannot be caressed
Nor can they be bitten
We will all fade to grey
It's written on the wall
Oh but I shall burst into a thousand colours!
The weight of the unexpected
Melts my neck
Heavy with questions
I looked at the door for a week
And lost an eye in my dream
Sounds keep piercing the air I breathe
and thoughts tangle my hair
There is a dead bird in my ear
And I am that dead bird's voice
The mist is resting on the river
In the small beauty of the forest
The waters have stopped flowing
Wordless woods, once flooded with canticles
dreams and rebellious hunt
The cutting, worshiping forest
Is now still
I am tired too
Surrounded by trees, I run
My feet are drums
I find you and you are devoured
I burnt my leg
Four years later, today
You still live in me, everywhere
Only movement can heal
What stillness has spilled on the land of hope
I open my mouth to drink you
Let my finger tremble
when I draw the shape of the clouds
No leash can be put on this singing voice
On the colourful threads
Erupting from my burning throat!
I have bloomed under my own care
I have flourished in your mud and rain
I have emerged beastly and delicious, oh mighty me!
Mighty me, after your destruction
Mighty me, I fly free.
I am Her
​
She calls my name,
What for?
Does she expect me to answer?
​
My mind cannot tell reality from fantasy
And the night stays,
While I fly above fields and lakes.
​
I am her
The one who calls my name.
The Wait
​
From under the Old Tree,
The Old Tree, my shelter
Hiding from the rain,
The rain that comes and goes
And the wind that blows,
I wait.
​
When are you coming?
​
I take flight,
Every cloud has a different shape,
I search on the land between the gaps
And imagine your life,
That life that goes on without me.
​
For how long?
On the Marshland
​
How are you going to find me,
If my boat has no name?
​
I improvise, you laugh
You tell me you fix and plan.
​
And the blackbird is singing,
While I walk home on the marshland.
The Fields
​
On those fields you wander,
Love will find you
​
Let the gentle grass lead your steps,
And the wind's hand guide your back
​
Because I believe love will find you
On the fields that are your home.
Two Towers
​
Between the two towers
There is a narrow space
​
Where your crown is shaped by my eyes
and wood and gold lay on the ground,
to show you who I am.
​
Between the two towers
The sky is filled with your absence,
Only the gargoyles can witness
what the storm has destroyed.
Leaves
​
One day the trees in my garden will lose all their leaves
​
I will look at them from the window
and sing a silent song
​
Orange, brown and green
I will sweep the floor and weep.
A Pigeon
​
If I were a pigeon,
I would be nowhere near humans.
I wouldn't be kicked by children,
Or fly away from the rushing and mindless
Nor would I get crushed by wheels,
Dying with my guts spread all over the pavement.
I would avoid all human contact,
Because a pigeon's feather
Carries more goodness than any finger on any hand,
In any city or any land.
I am a human
Who knows the pain of a pigeon
While I walk I smile and cry
I feel I am the only one who understands,
Yet I remain a stranger to both their feathers and your hand.
The Seagull
​
I put a stone on the seagull's eye
The seagull that died
Lying on the sand
Slowly engulfed by the rising tide
​
My feet are now sinking
Fear and Power flutter like wings
When The Sea takes me
Who will put a stone on my eye?
Homeland
That day when you come
Northern winds will be blowing
The trees in the orchard will proudly hold their heavy branches
Weighed down by apples and ripe plums
In the morning, the seagulls will be fighting
And the swallows will land on the mast of my sailboat
You will tell me about your missing father
And we will lie together
Forgetting this and other dangers
As the day you come to my home
So will home come to you
You asked me if there was something more
And laughed when I buried my warm body under the tangled ivy leaves
Your wholeness in its wholeness is enough, nothing less
I will not lower my voice, I made my choice
That day when you come to my home
The marshes will be drinking the colours of the sunset
Your chest will be safe under my hand
Fear not boy, you are now a man.
My Mistake
My mistake is like ivy
Crawling up on the walls of your cottage
Brown, grey, humid and old
Those walls, I know
My mistake
Is like
Words heard under the water
Lost, swallowed and unknown
Those words, in our river
I don't know the mistake I have made
To deserve my face darkened
In the eyes of those who ever mattered
Those eyes, yours
Can you see me?
Brittle Stars
​
Three perfect brittle stars
Bottle up your fears in the jar
The gift I gave you
The grown you, not the trembling child
Will you dare to throw your wand
to pin me down into the ground
My skin is fertile soil
Where your spit will make wildflowers grow.
Uphill
Uphill, uphill
There stands the swing,
And our home next to our river
Awaits all warm in the valley.
But it is not my home
Nor is it my river,
And the valley has turned cold.
Uphill, uphill
There stands the swing,
Where I longed for your kiss,
Before drowning in the river,
At the bottom of the valley.
The Woven Path
Come to me, gently
On the path I'm weaving
Woollen threads made of thoughts
And the marks you left
On my weary flesh
Come to me without hesitation
My craft is strong enough
To hold us both
In the heaviness of our wounds
Come to me, gently and without hesitation
With the small steps of a bird
The soft sounds of the growing grass
And the warming touch
Of the first rays of sun after a long and cold night.