A Diptych by Zarina Zabrisky and Simon Rogghe

"Cranes" illustrated by Zarina Zabrisky

"Swan" illustrated by Zarina Zabrisky

​All My Cranes by Zarina Zabrisky

i am walking through a gallery
shaped as a spiral
built of glass
and look at the hanging scrolls,
i read notes and words fly off the paper
and land on my palm

i am blowing at them gently
sending them to you
like dandelion parachutes:

here is a peony plant
with blossoms of brilliant colors
and a splendid array of hues,
ink and gold leaf on silk...

and here is
a lavish painting of a mountain,
wilderness in springtime,
pink, yellow and purple azalea,
it is gently oozing off the wall

it envelops me in aroma
my head swimming
delicate white petals
encircle me like stars

i hear our waltz

and here is
a jewel-green banana tree in rain
smells like my green umbrella
it is drenched
heavy tropical hot
it is so quiet in the gallery
empty

but i hear sighs

and here is the winter landscape of two herons,
willow, and tea plant
a sublime winter scene

the leaves are sprinkled with snow
infinite space opens
i sense jasmine tea on my palate
we are two herons in the infinite space
drinking green jasmine tea
in emerald kimonos
on top of a mountain

but now we are back in early spring
we are birds on a plum tree
we disappear into a cloud of mist
the curves of our bodies
blend, repeat the curves of the branches
we are suspended in flight
in the sixteenth century in Japan

and now i am in front of Gibbon Reaching for the Reflection of the Moon
according to the notes it is a metaphor for man's futile pursuit of illusory goals
i don't see us in this scroll
we already know it
we have a pact
against the futile pursuits

and this is a beautiful list of plants:
magnolia, thistle, peony, day lily, reeds and water lilies.
each has a music and the smell of their own
i feel all of them caressing my skin
it is warm here

and i am wearing only my favorite black dress
it is light and soft and weightless
and i feel all those flowers touching me, kissing me,
and also rose of Sharon, kudzu (although i don't know how it looks), wild chrysanthemum, bittersweet and sumac
or, are those your beautiful slender fingers
and your lips that i feel on the insides of my elbows,
on the nape of my neck, on my shoulders and ankles, everywhere?

it is hard to tell
all is mixed
i am carrying you with me
wrapped in myriad birds and flowers
songs and whispers
wings and feathers
pages of unwritten books
furs of invisible magic animals
and i can pack this whole world we share
in a drop of crystal clear water
and taste it on the tip of my tongue
drunk with gentleness, pure sweetness, the endless possibilities
and the spiral twists up to the sky
or infinity
and takes me to a six-pan screen: ink, color a gold leaf on paper:
Cranes.

the crane is a symbol of good fortune and long life,
the red-crowned crane is a symbol of the New Year, of harmony, and fidelity.

I see seventeen cranes resting, sleeping, nestling, flirting, peering into distance.

there is no water or streams, no rocks, no plants,
simply near-life-size cranes against a solid background of pure gold-leaf.

i send you each and every golden crane,
one by one,
they are flying out of the open windows and gates
of what used to be the cage of my body
but now is an open sky full of wings

all my cranes are flying to you

​My Bird for You is a Swan by Simon Rogghe

Your nails cut
Through my shoulder blades
And pull out buried wings.

Blue sky fills up my veins.
Blood rolls like drops of rain.

White feathers glisten in the sun.
I float upon a crystal wave:
Transformed into a swan.

My white unbearable,
So bright it hurts.
The days, the nights –
I cannot hide
As you unlock me
With your eyes.

I am the color of my heart –
Your face: a landscape
On my feathers.
My lake, your iris, my horizon.

Press me against your breast,
Undress me – a naked eye,
A naked soul: we are the same.

When Zarina Zabrisky and Simon Rogghe started writing poems to each other, a “third mind” was created. Their poems dissolve boundaries between their separate identities. Like the surrealists, they believe that literature is larger than its authors, that art is bigger than an artist.  "Green Lions" is their first book of collaborative poetry and includes visual art (forthcoming from Numina Press in 2014.)

Zarina Zabrisky is the author of the short story collections IRON and A CUTE TOMBSTONE (Epic Rites Press), and a novel WE, MONSTERS (Numina Press). Her work is published in six countries. She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a recipient of a 2013 Acker Award. 

Simon Rogghe is a poet, fiction writer and translator of French surrealism and contemporary fiction, currently earning his Ph.D. in French literature at UC Berkeley. His work has appeared in over thirty publications, including 3:AM Magazine, Gone Lawn, Literary Orphans.
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