Monday, September 28, 2009

beloved be the one who sits down


Today I am staying home from work recovering from a cold or the flu or something...watching the dark comedy, Songs from the Second Floor inspired by the poem Stumble Between Two Stars by Cesar Vallejo:

Beloved be the unknown man and his wife.
My fellow man with sleeves, neck and eyes!
Beloved be the one who sleeps on his back.
The one who wears
a torn shoe in the rain.
Beloved be the bald man without hat.
The one who catches a finger in a door.
Beloved be the one who sweats out of pain or out of shame.
The one who pays with
what he does not have...
Beloved be the ones who sit down.
Beloved be the one who works by the day, by the month, by the hour.
Beloved be the one who sweats out of pain or out of shame.
The person who goes, at the order
of his hands, to the movies.
The one who pays with what he does not have...
The one who sleeps on his back.

The one who no longer remembers
his childhood.
Beloved be the one
who sits down.
Beloved be the just man without thorns.
The bald man without hat.

The thief without roses.

The one who wears a watch
and has seen God.
The one who has honor and does not die!

Monday, September 21, 2009

mar adentro

Count your blessings,
he scolded me sternly
Stop complaining.
Remember how easy
your life is…

But still the waves
swell and surge.
Dark clouds drape
the eastern sky.
The colors of the sea
fading as I
am carried further
from the shore.


Saturday, September 5, 2009

unsuited


I’m not suited for this.
Maybe some day I will be,
I cannot name the year or time.
Certainly I fear my soul will shun peace
Until that moment breaks.

But if escape offers some reprieve,
I will gratefully embrace its bounty.
I eagerly await its arrival to divert
The yellow noise of distraction
Into the calm blues of flight

I will return to the ample expanse
Where following breath leads to
Quiet void, most excellent and fair.
And finally sends me back to exquisite pain,
The customary price for touching bliss.