Elegy to Youthful Notions

You have colored my eyes blind
and abandoned a shivering animal
cloaked in a barefoot dream
that led us into a dense poverty.

Your fury and my grasping Eros
left us swirling in embryotic
fluids. You have lost yourself
between the breath and stars.

An apartment and an inside out
sofa—Bull ripped out the stuffing—
suffer the footsteps and a heaving
stomach on to wet pavement.

You are a wolf in sheep’s skins
and I am a traitor to your tasting
tongue. There were red apples on
the doorstep and poison on my lips.

I have loved you, yes. Washed my
hands in the grains of rice and left.
Gathered the scattered seeds and
ceased to be visible in the early dawn.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Litany

After the music has stopped
you betray us with crescent
speech and dandelion whispers,
ever aware of the familiar
chasm that lives with gangly
feet over the hand rail.
Invert your body for
that junky loving feeling.
Make believe that I love you
for nine more days and
offer up an elegy in its wake.

****

this is a bit rough but there are phrases that I enjoy.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Ode to a Feckless Life

A cardinal chitters warning cries
entangled in the rose vines.
She is out of work as she lies
against the wasp’s wings.

Where do you seek your inspiration
with an empty sky and a prickly sun?

A black cat stalks a cricket’s cry.
Prayers slip through the wooden
cracks. Write in short phrases while
walking barefoot in the backyard.

A beetle’s wings buzz and contracts
his iridescent body glints. She reads
a book of poetry on a metal staircase.
A smell of burning wood skims the air.

There was a spark on Venus, a flicker
of firelight, when you stretched across
the ocean. I miss you only
when you are unfettered memories.

I read the clouds and the pouring rain.
You, in the middle of your exile, speak
fluid language. The leaves singe when
white butterflies flutter a lonely ballad.

A cold sour lemon for a wet tongue
and an empty page. This is how we
survive a flock of seagulls fighting over
slippery bits of fish.

There are thick I want phrases that touch
minds and skip off lips. A laundry of damp
towels wave off a melancholy mood.
At what age do we stop asking for penance?


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.