At the risk of being broken, they grow together. One breathes, one yellows, one takes up the sun yellowing without noticing. I have thought, on occasion of clipping one, leaving a clean machete tree stump just to see if one grows longer just to see if the one grows back.
Tag Archives: language
Love Note
Peck on you, Rosa where are you anyway? two missed phone calls & the passing of days Ready to hurt yourself? Ready to hurt yourself again? Honey, don’t fall in love is really what he meant. That little avant guard-ista tasty like a pizza winsome winds beneath her coattails, and charm like starry-eyed minnows inContinueContinue reading “Love Note”
Bloom*
well, they are gone, and here must I remain, serious as a star when only one star can be seen yet I am the one left looking, hearing your footfalls as they fade I am the one who always waits, and you, one of many who has found me by mistake returning next to myContinueContinue reading “Bloom*”
Abecedarius in 26 Words (& Change)
Alabastrine, beauteous, careful daylight, ebbing. For gallant headwinds include juridical knowledge, lyrical mastery, & no place (for) quivering, reticent shadows. Tu último viento: (a) wayward, xerophytic young zephyr— Also published here: https://theamericanscholar.org/and-be-careful-darling/#.WjKobrbMwWo
Rags to Riches
How simple it must be, the life of a rock ignoring the pulse of the tick and the tock forgetting which dirty magazine it took to read in bed in lieu of a book. A rock with no shoes, no sandal, nor boot Not even a rambling foot— Like an artist, it has no needContinueContinue reading “Rags to Riches”
Zarathustra
‘You go behind the sea and bring light also to the underworld,’ declaring, ‘Behold! this cup wants to be empty again.’ But you are the one who is empty, A tepid ‘hybrid of plant and ghost’ ‘a worm’ wrangling with a rope. ‘Nothing is more vengeful than your meekness.’
Ode to Lipstick
How radiant, your Lustering lips which pour sweet moonlight onto our eyes for better seeing. How sharp and well observed, your Cupid’s peak distinct— not quite Angel, not quite Diva— a little Flirty & Perky Pink never hurt anybody. Your Love Test suggests Red Rock. The right to say, Viva Glam! was all you everContinueContinue reading “Ode to Lipstick”
Limpia la Ropa
In the laundromat you read books and listen to Chopin. On both tv’s the same show is playing at slightly different times, which is why you try not to forget your headphones. The machines are half dead and the dryers only run on high or low. It’s nighttime, so the air is sticky, and theContinueContinue reading “Limpia la Ropa”
Sidewalk Chalk
i. Every Thursday afternoon I watch you play the playground. You climb the bars and twist the swings singing pop songs with mostly your own words. ii. Last Thursday, I brought a box of sidewalk chalk and we bent our necks making a blue and orange mandala. You had never known that these wereContinueContinue reading “Sidewalk Chalk”
Brown Eyes
I like to watch your eye twitch watch your nose bleed, watch your cat drink, and when I watch you I think of molasses, sweet and bitter, how once you told me about molasses cookies on Sundays like cartoons your eye twitching again as you look into my eyes and ask is there silence underwater?
Virginia Valenzuela 