I still call you friend
Said I’d be there ’til the end
You still hold your axe
You’ve never bothered burying it
You hack away at me
Yet I remain unharmed
You hack away at me
Always coming at me fully armed
I offer you a hug
When you need it most
And in exchange
You hurl at me all your ugly words
I no longer dodge your swords
Because no one in their right mind fights back a ghost…
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
What do you tell yourself
When you look in the mirror
When no one’s looking
When no one’s there
When no one’s listening
What do you tell yourself
In the dark
In the rain
In the mist
In the abyss
What do you tell yourself when you’re staring into the heavens
At the constellations
At the Big Dipper
At the Milky Way
What do you tell yourself
When your petty crimes far exceed your self-righteous ways?
What do you tell yourself when you’re in the company of a stranger?
What do you tell yourself when yesterday’s lies no longer bring you comfort?
What do you tell yourself when all you feel is great discomfort and disdain?
What do you tell yourself when you don’t even deem yourself worthy of being your own best friend?
What do you tell yourself when all you have is your own shadow to call your best friend?
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
My mind is free to go places without limits
My heart is free to feel what it wants to
My heart is free to love whom it wants to
To choose how long I’m going to love you
When I decide ,you’ll know
I won’t stop loving you
Because my hearts is free to change how I’ll continue loving you…
My feet are free to walk where they choose
My hands are free to grab a pen, put it to paper to unleash my wildest of imaginations
My body is free to feel the music and dance til day break or not
My eyes are free to roam where ever they want to and see things beyond the horizon
My ears are free to listen to nature’s song
To tune into an unseen realm-a realm more real than the tangible one
My will is free to choose right from wrong
I am free to learn the lesson or not…
How free are you?
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
There is a smell and feel of dawn long before the light
Dawn smells like:
Lavender
An untraveled path
A rose about to bloom
A hot cup of steaming green tea
There is a smell and feel of dawn long before light
Dawn feels like:
A newborn’s breath on my cheek
My lover’s kiss on my eager lips
A hug from some one you have not embraced in a while
An unexpected smile…
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
You lit a flame like no one else could
Clara, flicker of my heart
The light beams clearly in your eyes
Is this what dreams are made of?
To see the light beams in your eyes?
Is this what dreams are made of?
I’ll always make sure you receive an abundance of my love
Is this what dreams are made of?
To see your smile
Melt an icicle covered heart
Is this what dreams are made of?
To see you bridge the gap
In a war-torn heart
Is this what dreams are made of?
You’ve been here just a short while
Clara, light of my heart
Already you’ve made me laugh
You’ve made my heart explode
You’ve made me feel like everything’s gonna be fine
You’ve restored joy lost
You’ve healed hurts I wasn’t even aware of
You’ve brought order to the chaos…
Indeed, this is what dreams are made of!
Eva Santiago copyright 2014
I look at my hands
These hands that touched you first as you entered this life
They’re not extraordinary hands
They’ve not designed rocket ships
They’ve not drafted blue prints for a magnificent work of architecture
They’ve not operated on a human heart or brain
They’ve not touched millions of dollars
They’ve not been adorned with the most expensive of gold, silver and precious stones
They’ve not graced the latest fashion magazine covers
But I’ll tell you what they have done:
They have held babies from sun up ’til sun down
Wiped noses , bottoms and toes
Cooked, I can’t remember how many meals
Sewed, I lost track of the stitches and dresses
Disciplined several naughty toddlers
Wiped away, I forgot how many tears
Written so many words
On countless blank pages
Painted using fingers, brushes and knives
On many a canvas
Cleaned up the clutter
Washed all the clothes
And through it all, these hands that first touched you as you made your grand entrance
Into this great ,big world
Will always touch, caress and comfort you
I’ll hold your hand in mine
Together we’ll both learn of the mysteries of this universe.
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
Music is a drug
The best drug around
It alters your brain
It expands it causing it to travel places far away
What did writers of old do?
Did they write in silence?
Did they hire a whole orchestra
Maybe a single violinist
Putting ear buds on and listening to music is like:
Getting in a car and taking off destination unknown
Music fills an emptiness that words cannot
It’s like getting on a jet plane
Flying in the clouds
Cruising in the land of your dreams
Like boarding a ship
Sailing into an ocean
Of all your mixed up emotions
It’s like suiting up in a space ship
Traveling to another galaxy
To meet your new self.
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
America what has happened to you?
Our freedoms are eroding everyday
Vanishing into the midnight air
You think you’re free?
Think again my friend
Ever try to travel while you’re broke?
Ever broke a tooth and you’re too broke to see a dentist?
Ever work your ass off
Only to find yourself sleeping on a cold concrete floor?
Ever stood in a food pantry line
Along with other unemployed Americans
Who can only afford to pay their bills
But not put food on their tables?
Ever had your kids who are of working age
Help you pay the bills?
I came here to the land of dreams
Leaving behind my place of birth
Things are bad there
Always been
Even though I was little
I’d hear the grown folk talk in whispers
Wringing their hands
Pacing to and fro
Worried and anxious
Now I’m here
Been here for most of my life
And it’s looking just as bad as the home land I left
Young people go to college training for jobs that no longer exist
Older folks
Younger folks
Everyone in between is feeling the pinch
Get sick once and you end up in the poor house
I don’t mean to be grim
Even though I too am feeling Uncle Sam’s pinch
I still get up each day
And put a smile on my face
Because life is more than:
Paying bills
Fighting with your ex
Struggling with life’s woes
Life is sweet
Life is sour
Find your sweet spot
Don’t wander from there
That’s your place of power.
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
Turn off the music
Pull the ear buds out
Shut your phone off
Your iPod can wait
Sit and be still
Listen to nature’s song
Birds are always singing
Tree leaves whisper ancient mysteries
Tree trunks silently testify
Watching you watch them
As you reflect
They reflect back
Trees in my yard
Know what went on in this house
Long before I arrived
Even the warm dirt beneath my feet
Can silently attest to that
16 boulders ’round the olive tree
Some one took their time
To place them there
Was that some one’s sacred altar?
Those stones were placed with care
This place is sacred to me
I come and I:
Ponder
Wonder
Seek
Ask and thank…
I leave my burdens here
I come to be
Man made cathedrals keep true God worshippers out
Nature’s cathedral
Welcomes one and all
Man made cathedrals
Cost a lot of money
Built by the sweat of man’s brow
Nature’s Cathedral
Is free and cost not a single life
Man made cathedrals
As exclusive as a country club
You must conform to be part of their clique
Nature’s cathedral
Expands far beyond what the naked eye can see
Reaching to the ocean
And across the horizon
Covering miles of ground
Reaching into the heavens
To include the Milky Way
And worlds beyond our grasp
Man made cathedrals
Here one day and gone the next
Nature’s cathedral
Was from days gone by
Is now in my back yard
With us still in the up and coming new earth!
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
I want freedom
I have some freedom
I want more though
I crave freedom so badly
Making love with my lover
In our own private world
I feel truly free
Nothing else is offering me
Total abandon right now
Only there: Not me with him or him with me but when we’re US- I feel alive
I crave freedom
Like the desert craves rain
Like birds crave flying
Like polar bears crave snow
Like the snow-capped mountains crave sunshine so they can melt
Like coal craves to become a diamond
Like an oyster craves to make a pearl
Like William Wallace craved freedom for his beloved Scotland
Like this pen in my hand
Seeks to search out my heart’s dirt
Helping to pour out its contents
So I can make sense of it
By putting it all into words, sentences and paragraphs
I must keep moving
Freedom is what I crave!
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2014
Eva Santiago 