as a small child
I would design elaborate
games
to play

underneath the redwood arms
I was a unicorn
and she was my fairy
the sky was made of magic

and we could eat
clouds for breakfast
because there was no
ordinary

waking today
the sky hugs down low
something shifted
overnight and I find

so much is extra ordinary
the shape of your hands
the fall of the rain
the taste of tea

this perfect day
rolled out like blank
parchment
for you and I to choose

scrambled eggs
or sandwiches
scattegories
or trivia

either way
even the couch is softer
the tilt of the oak tree
a miracle

the rabbit running up
to the window unusual
the lilacs on the table
a watercolour

I breathe
and smile
and
I wonder

how I ever felt
the edgy cloak of frustration
the soar throat
of sadness

and I look to see
what hill fear
slid
away on

what tall wall
the future
and the past
have hid behind

I rest back
and hunger for nothing
this moment
it is simply enough

copyright – Christina Adler – 3 May 2009 – Windsor, California USA

for so many weeks these
branches
have held the cold outside
of themselves

curved and ancient
they wind around each other
and from a distance
create a horizon

of a hundred tiny blackbirds
and yet up close their
branches feel surprisingly rough
brittle sharp edges

break under the light weight
of my hands
and I wonder how much of the sun has
soaked in from these new spring days

like a deep ravine
their light is hidden
until it erupts without warning
one windy afternoon

walking the dry and crackled
path
it is as if the belly of this branch
were light itself

from each edge
soft as lambs ears
green leaves climb
from nowhere to surprise

me out of habitual hurried thought
into what is right in front of me
and I cannot help but feel again surprised
that out of nothing climbs life

full and soft
unexplainable
and again not from light but from darkness
comes something more beautiful than we had thought possible

copyright – Christina Adler – 30 March 2009 – Windsor, California USA

in between the vines
tea leaves grow
bright white petals
circling their own yellow sun

like fluffy planets
they combine into
a silky milky way
where rain drops and birds breeze by

and as I ponder
my steps get caught in the clay like mud
and my shoes
are nearly taken hostage

after these weeks of rain
this dance
of sunlight
in the midst of a wet wet week

ripped me outside
with the sound of velcro
from my fire lit home
so that I could feel

this lightness
in an otherwise
heavy week
of conversations

and opinions
and it is as if the earth
were encouraging
me just to calm down

with this soothing avenue
of chamomile
which bloomed while
I’ve been asleep

ruminating
and dreaming
towards the many outcomes
of our woven together lives

and our
family
it blends like tea
steeped and varied

all of our petals
mingling
yet changed by our individual experiences
and then the whistle blows

high pitched on the stove
and we awaken knowing
that time and again are lives continue blooming
from this moment which we spend

turning on our axis
year in and year out
pulled by our own gravity
until a window opens once again

copyright – Christina Adler – 1 March 2009 – Windsor, California USA

awake
in another morning
early
so uncharacteristic of me

and I look around
to find which room
we are in today
whose pictures paint my dreams

this constant
travel
stretches my muscles
new flexibility

is found
for the woman
so stable for years
tucked between the sand and sea

and here
each day I can feel how
we are still on our
training wheels

wobbling down
this lane of our life
not sure of
the bends and bucks in the road

and it is hard
for me to let go of
the back of
your bicycle

even though my legs are tired
from pedaling
hard
and yet

when I finally let
my fingers free
we wobble
side by side

smiles wide
tears near
wondering together
whats around the bend

oh my love
lets linger in
the details
now

rather than in the giant
canvas
for which we could
paint

lets enjoy these spaces
between Petaluma’s
unripe
mango green hills

where our thoughts
beat loud
along side
our quiet days

and lets find peace
in the familiar tilt
of each other’s profiles
while

we stumble and fall
and brush ourselves
off
and ride on again

planting new roots
in this winter soil is hard
but together I know
that this time

will bloom
that our home
is waiting along
one of these long country lanes

copyright – Christina Adler – 19 January 2009 – Petaluma, California USA

standing beneath
this Autumn tree
I am awestruck
stopped in my tracks

looking up
through wide
reaching branches
a mural of orange and yellow leaves

against a sky
so periwinkle blue
that it soaks
in all your senses

this contrast
of color
wakes the very
tip of my wonder

and I look around
expecting
a crowd around me
jaws dropped

heads tilted
children shouting
to see the underneath
of every gold sewn leaf

but instead I find
the bike path empty
even the ducks
tucked underneath their wings asleep

however as I look to my feet
I see nearly a hundred
scattered shining leaves
brittle yet buoyant in their color

and I know
that it is I
late for this event
they would have gathered early

in their Sunday best
when the sun first hit
the branches
and they would have gasped

and clapped their hands
as this graceful tree
dropped a single leaf
for each woman, man and child

which they held
and gently set beneath her branches
this treasure
too valuable to take

left as an offering
back to beauty
their eyes alive
their hearts knowing

that life
drops love
in unexpected
places

copyright – Christina Adler – 23 November 2008 – Greenbrae, California USA