the hills here
melt out of morning sun
and sing of yellow
as if to say

another colour could never be
so beautiful
and there is silence
as I sweep

the wooden deck in long fluid strokes
that break the silence
like a nail file
against the air of nap time in a sleeping home

in these numbered days here
I am sleeping less
but am more awake
among the redwood bodies

and the skulking deer
than I am among
tall buildings
and tangled horns

my soul recognizes
the silence like an old friend
and tries to change towards it
like a chameleon on a leaf

my jaw releases
and my face uncreases
there is quiet here
this is all I could ask of peace

copyright – Christina Adler – 15 November 2008 – Woodacre, California USA

you loom so old
above this humid town
your wrinkled skin
folded along the center of this island

such a deep emerald
like that of
dinosaur and avocado skin
your plateau

peaks and valleys
shout of mystery
like the woman
confident

in a room full of people
relaxed in the corner chair
content in the presence
of her own silence

and in that silence I want to
shake out
the blanket of your
skin

just to feel the
heaviness
in the texture
of that green

you must rain
from the inside out
to be
that lush

have you swallowed
the storms that swirl around you whole
or are you an envelope of life
inspiring others to be as beautiful

copyright – Christina Adler – 13 September 2008 – Kailua, Oahu, USA

waking up to these days
like gifts
wrapped up and off the calender
as if we have stepped

through time
and left the little squares behind
for this stretch of beach
this lap of waves

and I start to quiet
even with the clatter of the palm leaves
keeping me awake
in this humid lull

papaya and lime
on the lanai each morning
Honolulu papers folded under the bamboo tray
and you a compliment

to every detail
brightening the deep red of the hibiscus flower
noticing the blue sparkle of the sea
smiling over a rainbow of shaved ice

all simply pronounced in your presence
which allows me to rest
held by the details
as these stray days lead us

to a place we’re yet to know
and with this sand sticking to my feet
the salt rubs away a fine layer of doubt and
I am suddenly free to believe

that anything is possible
even this
where months and days simply give way
to sandy naps in humid afternoons

to new hope
and I believe
that by closing your eyes
and taking that step, only solid strength can await

copyright – Christina Adler – 1 October 2008 – Kailua, Oahu, USA

the ocean so like us
awakes some days
a perfect sand path
not a grain out of place

as if the tide had swept it clean
working hard overnight
whistling while combing every inch
so that morning light drips over

tiny waves lapping with hardly a sound
drawing back in one kind line
and I walk so entranced
my feet making perfect beach foot prints in the sugar white sand

and then out of the blue
only days later
she shows me her cracks
sand strewn in canals and teetering

sandcastles played with and left to spill
the dried leaf flag wrapped around driftwood now torn
blue coral and a pink squid the size of my lower arm
sinking sadly in the sun

rocks pressing into the soft of my feet
and seaweed and kelp salting the air that I breathe
she lets down her hair and I can see
her waves unruly and unpredictable

moods of spitting rain and sun straining through clouds
today I know who I would choose
this authentic
this less kept self

her details I can’t help it, they intrigue me
she sings of truth
that honesty so refreshing and I can’t help but drink it in
knowing now that the clear days will be that much more beautiful

copyright – Christina Adler – 20 September 2008 – Kailua Beach, Oahu, USA

in the afternoon
the giant emerald leaves
anticipate the eel like hose
and start to curl

like a laughing babies toes
and I know that
they will relax overnight
taking back their clover shape

to hang over the lanes of this garden
so shadowed by an encyclopedia of trees,
filtered sun
and a cat’s shadow near the aging fence

where strange buds reach out
of thick tube like stems
purple and green
kelp like in structure

a contrast to the golden bamboo that shakes free
showering the sound of maracas over gardenia leaves
each time the rare san franciscan
heat blows through in sheets

and amidst this fabric of life
I duck and weave
feeling for the shielded leaves of the potted plant
shy underneath the mosaic tabletop

my feet becoming wet
on top of red rubber thongs
from summer’s past
so that I slide through

this garden so like
the belly of the sea
as if a great tide was
sucked back

leaving this cornucopia
of stunning blooms, leaves, stems
to fend off sun
and butterflies

who weave away from the light
to shade with the sound of water
which lulls me into
summer slumber and I wonder

did I dream
the dance of the seahorse
that galloped past
under the canopy

of gem coloured lantern blossoms
whose soil could only be that of rose quartz
to colour the petals so pretty
like the pout of a film star

yet it is
the succulents
that I could sit with for eons
bursting so with self esteem

almost teasing me
as they hold water
in the shelter of their
perfect green leaves

letting it pool
so that droplets
shine bright as diamonds
in this ferocious sun

and oh how I long to be
that plump with life
so green and ready
for what sunny afternoons could hold

copyright – christina adler – 4 September 2008 – Fillmore Street-San Francisco, CA, USA

stepping through Sydney customs
I hold
your hand
as if I

might fall off this cliff
if I let go
my eyes are blue
and filled

the tide is high today
in my body
my mind
my soul

and the waves
they just won’t stop
back and forth
I’m pulled tangled up

between the tears
which hold
such extremes
so many good-byes

and i feel
slippery as I reach for the bottom
and find no sand
but just as

we pass security
you reach towards
me and I’m stopped by the weight
of heart in your eyes

and you say
this is the time
we will look back on
this is a pivotal moment in our life

and you were right
and we stood as if the moment
had just been born between us
and held it new and small between our hands

in awe
with a kind of reverence
you might find in a church
or a field of flowers or at dawn

and we met this moment
laced in energy
and we smiled
and I found the ground

copyright – christina adler – 31 July 2008 – Mill Valley, CA, USA