Vision+Voice

I stand in front of the apartment after a long airplane fight
I have waited so long to be here again
With the cute kitchen and the bedrooms with tiny beds

But most of all the living room,
I love the smell of the paintings,
And how her collection of sorts sits on the coffee table
With a flower patterned sofa right next to it
The curtains block the window

She stands right next to it everyday
Looking through the window
Watching all the cars and bikes go by

She seems so tall compared to the sofa
I can barely even look out the window
But soon I’ll be taller than her
Next time I visit, I’ll be so tall she won’t even recognize me

Who knew I would have to wait so long
I still wait to this day
The place I look forward to visiting is empty
The place looks the same, but she’s not there
Not right by the window, watching the cars go by
She’s not standing right next to the couch
Or walking by her coffee table

Who knew a pandemic would come
Who knew it would keep us apart
Apart until it was too late
To say good bye.

A baby in a crib
With only one dirty bib

Living with his mother
And with his grandmother

They’re moving around sluggish
The room feeling muggish

Hungry baby in a crib
Only getting a bite or a nibble

A baby crying
The mother hitting

Alone in the apartment
Food not in the compartment

Mother taking drugs
Shes feeling smug

Gone again and left alone
Another of the baby’s groan

Taken by the government to be protected
A Baby finally being respected

Taken in by a family that is the best
I am no guest

Finally happy at last
All of that is in the past

The sun shone through the leaves of a tree,
leaving little paper cutouts of light scattered across the ground.
A small cat, silent as the clouds,
Was the only movement in the forest.
The splotches of light climbed slowly onto the cats back,
And fell back to the ground,
As the cat silently weaved its way in and out the gaps between the trees.
Never stopping in one spot,
always searching
For a place unknown.

You are my frenemy
My enemy
My friend
Until the day end
We poke and prod
We talk a lot
You are my frenemy
We gossip
We scream
It’s a nightmare
It’s a dream
You are my frenemy
We laugh
We cry
Then say goodbye
You are my frenemy
We have good days and bad ones
We have light and dark
We are nothing apart
You are a friend to me

El avión de papel

Ese avión de papel,
Que vuela encima de mi,
de ella y de él

Ese avión de papel,
con innumerable
garabatos de pincel

Dentro, tantas historias
y sentimientos
Un mundo de creatividad con el

Que nos lanzamos al mundo

_____________

Paper Airplane

This paper airplane
That flies over me
Over her, over him

This paper airplane
With countless
Scribbles made in pencil

Inside, so many stories
And feelings
A world of creativity with which

We launch ourselves to the world

You wake up.
You look around your cramped, wooden room in your house.
You’re still tired, despite just waking up.
The morning sun shines through your window, onto your face.
You sit up.
The autumn air flows through your abode.
It smells sweet to you.
Fills you with joy.
You turn around and put one foot on the floor.
Then the other.
Stars fill your head as you get overtaken by vertigo.
You sat up too quickly.
You lie back down on your comforter.
You watch the ceiling spin in slow circles.
You watch as the feeling of falling never slows down.
You watch as the world goes on without you,
For another day.

Have you met The girl on the outside
The girl inside of me? is not nearly as perfect

She is honest She is clumsy
And polite And shy
She never picks a fight And forgets half the time

She is loyal She lies
And brave And cheats
Stands tall for what is right And is selfish for a beat

A mask She always longs
She wears To do what is right
Whenever she has fright

But she is never like
The girl on the inside

My poor abstract brain is a mess
With boxes and boxes and piles of stress

A jumble of colors, of numbers, of names
With faces and places all much the same

Equations and times and lists of chores
And silver dust pattern marks on the floors

Someday I shall unbox an eternity
But for now it will stay a war of uncertainty

Come
Come across the roaring waves
And the thirsty desert
All the same

A lantern in the woods
Lights my darkened soul
And your smile of long summer days
Gathers dust in my memory

But the shimmering narrative of hope
Glints in all of the colors of the wind
As you set sail
Into the harbor of my heart