Poems (Final Drafts)

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The Kiss

It seemed so simple

on that balcony I was thirteen

at an airport

            in the clear

of the night

                        hands clasping

 

the cool breeze            brushing

her hair across thinly cut

layers and outlines of her pale skin

shone by the dancehall behind

 

playing                        a beat

 

a foreign tune I recall faintly

her lavender shampoo

 

as I

            tried     frantically

to slow

                        my breath

 

drew her face toward mine

held it there but missed

            my first attempt

I tried again

                                       and

there we lingered tight

lips pressed

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Flush

 

Cold ivory singes my skin

I sit        silent as morning

light gently glistens outside

then in

embracing empty gaps

between crevices

 

I clench

close my eyes

 

as thoughts drift and there

in that tiny lake

you wade in water’s gentle caress

 

morning’s light still burns

it’s early but later

your kin will visit kindly

 

so I say lovingly

goodbye beautiful

 

flush!

 

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You Could Have Saved So Many

 

You could have saved so many characters’ lives

            if folks would have just listened up

                        but no

 

flickers of light on the screen              flash

            images of a crowd       running

 

shouting words that don’t transpire

            in the ears and eyes that follow

            the next woman or man

who think the way out is

 

                                                     ahead         

of those                       they think

                they know

 

you could have saved so many characters’ lives

            if folks would have just listened up

 

            the light on the screen dims

                        before the crowd cheers following

            the next woman or man          silence

when words said never fully

                        transpire

 

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Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera at RCC

 

to be a poet

            a poet he says

a poet uses parentheses

                  ellipses

 

yes       the publishers

                                   will print poems

            (poems rich in parentheses)

                                                   he explains

how we go

                      inside ourselves                         outside

 

and ellipses…

 

(well    I can’t remember what the laureate said about ellipses)

 

            because I laughed so hard       I choked

when he flailed his hands about like that sci-fi robot

            trying to explain how published poets

            always get poems printed

                               with

                        (parentheses)