not stop you from
resurrecting to guide them.
daily they come to look
upon you more certain now
of the meaning of love and
the magnificence of the God
who never left you.
Games
I saw children playing
on the corner wearing
the smiles old prayers
often bid for the whole
block. abuelitas came
out of tired buildings
to sit on stoops tying
unlaced sneakers with
wrinkled hands made
before time. they looked
up smiling at the old
man with stories that
cough up on all the
corners loud enough
to raise blinds and
open eyes in all the
windows. kids who
think games never
end made the street
sing a babble of
fun that left imprints
on the crowds on the
well-kept sidewalks.
we drew nearer to the
truth that sabado
afternoon simply
to drink it still.
The Water
when the city was
new to me faces
smiled on all the
corners, the fire
hydrants in summer
opened, kids undid
cans at each end
for water games,
skinny old men ran
through puddles, bag
carrying abuelas laughed
in rainbow vapors, wet
kids ran to bodegas
with nickels in hand
for five cookies, records
played loud music
on Saturday, domino
games were unending,
girls jumped roped,
the church bells kept
time, nights were not
wounded by fear, we
believed, loved, lived,
with such risa, and there
were no strangers.
Speak
I sit and hear
about the man
from Guatemala
shot last week
by cops who never
sob about wrong
doing. I see
bony children in
unlit apartments
neglected, abused,
desperately crying
in beaten mothers’
arms. I hear people
talk about martyrs, agony
without end, the death
of the world, the vain
cries everywhere, the
churches unable to see
and hear beyond their
sullen Sabbath. I dwell
on the silence of God.
The Place
we have come
into the church
after years of death
lived in a world
no longer listening
to God. the incense
cleanses our wounds
as flickering candles
on a crystal moon night
carry us to you. we sit
before two sore eyes
on a saint never suspicious
of strangers, full of acceptance,
sleeplessly waiting, and find
rest. we light candles for those
turned dusty ash to raise
them once again from the
terrible silence.
The Drowning
you
