kisses

The Dittany of Crete

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

The Dittany of Crete

I’ve found the place where red and blue,
where earth and sea and sky all meet;
I’ve even climbed the ashen rock
to pick the dittany of Crete:

to weave a spell about your eyes,
to wake your smiling silent mouth,
to share with you the flaming light
and heavy flavours of the south.

Christina Egan © 2012

Hanging oblong flowers in bright green with bright pink.

 

The ‘dittany of Crete’ is a rare wild plant, gathered as a flavouring, medicine, aphrodisiac, or love token. I tried it on Crete in a delicious and wholesome tea!

The red colour in the poem could be the pink and orange surf in the sunset, or the pink and orange beaches of Crete. The sea might be bright blue and then again bright green…

Origanum dictamnus.
Photograph: HelenaH via Wikimedia.

Screen

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Screen

Last night, at last, beside
your arms, you opened wide
your lips – and in the stream
of quivering delight
below the lifted screen
I touched your silver soul –
One moment, I felt whole –
But then you sank away,
it was already day:
you had been but a dream.

Christina Egan © 2015

Gingerbread Man

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Gingerbread Man

God made you of some gingerbread
which over time intensifies:
so that with every year, your breath
will taste of hotter, sweeter spice!

Christina Egan © 2014

—

We Married on the Ferris-Wheel

Vienna quivered in the heat
for our furtive feast:
we married on the ferris-wheel
(we kissed on it, at least).

The palaces shone yellow-white
like lemon cakes with glaze:
we married in the royal grounds
(we kissed within a maze).

That summer rolled into a ball
and down the hill of time –
Vienna basks in splendour still,
my bridegroom still is mine!

Christina Egan © 2014

—

String of Pearls

Your presence makes this globe that whirls
the best of all existing worlds —
your kisses make this blob a pearl
from which a string of worlds unfurls!

Christina Egan © 2015

—

Asteroid

He inhabits his own tiny planet,
a fragment of rock, you might say;
his orbit seems steep and erratic
and often immensely away.

Yet, what you can’t see from your garret
nor find in your smart telescopes:
it’s two of them snug on that comet
that’s studded with roses and oaks.

Christina Egan © 2010

Das Lied meines Lebens

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Das Lied meines Lebens

I.

Alle Buchten unsrer Meere,
allen Regen, alles Licht
finde ich in deinen Augen:
Du bist schön. Und weißt es nicht.

Alle Schätze dieser Erde,
von der Knospe bis zum Stern,
finde ich in deinen Zügen:
Doch du schweigst. Und du bist fern.

II.

Ach, ich lebe für die Stunde,
da dein Herz sich mir enthüllt
und mein beinah lebenslanges
Sehnen endlich sich erfüllt,

da der Suchstrahl deiner Augen
sich in meine Augen wagt
und dein Mund fast ohne Worte
meinem Mund die Wahrheit sagt.

Christina Egan © 2015