The Book of What Remains

by Benjamin Saenz

*

 

Every night, the dream.

Every dawn, the waking

                                To that profound

State of sadness and solitude.

                                Always you rushed out

Into the yard and wept

At the sight of the honeysuckles in bloom

And the blueness of the sky.

 

                                Imagine

A world without the sweetness of jasmine

And honeysuckles? Imagine a world

Without the perfect breeze,

Without the perfect blue

                That only a sky in June can give?

 

*

 

Sometimes, you wake in the night.

You are afraid. You are afraid

That your heart will become

                A desert again. Uninhabitable.

 

*

 

As Mexicans would have it:

 

Cada cabeza es un mundo

 

Every single mind

Constitutes a world—

 

An ecosystem.

 

Each life

A city

                With streets, avenues,

                Libraries, histories,

                Museums, homes

                Gardens, alleys filled

                Garbage, kitchens

                Aromas, secrets,

                And novels that contain

 

                Voices that must not

 

                Become extinct.

Comments

[Heather]

Had to let you know -- I adored this poem too much to remain silent, so I reposted it at my blog. Hopefully that's cool.

Once again, thanks for sharing, Ali.

[ali]

glad you liked it. Benjamin Saenz is soo lovely.

of course its cool! People should know about him.