you share with me a picture of your sunset
I would give one back to you
But my balcony faces east
instead, I offer you
A midnight
dawn
And noon
three corners of the sky
with your sunset, they are four
one diamond of the night and day
Orange
In the grocery store aisle
one belly button orange with a scar
others pristine, unblemished
others soon to be sold
Between perfect sisters
one unbidden sphere
branded by two discolored inches
not to be held
not to be tasted
A globe passed over
oceans never plunged
forests never inhaled
landscapes never painted
A world unfathomed
with a navel and a canyon scar
is the canyon east or west?
north or south?
perhaps along her belly
or across a breast
maybe against her cheek.
Moonlight at Noon
The Moon, My Shadow, and I make Three. – Li Po
I would bake on this planet
If not for the Moon I invited
She agreed to let me keep her
Tucked beneath my blouse
Her cool face against my belly
I lounge in her quiet
I swim in her well
I bloom in her sanity
The Moon brought me a friend
One who used to follow me
She mimicked my every movement
At first she flattered me
Then she mocked me
Finally, she ran away
I screamed at her,
Come back here!
I tried to put a leash on her
But she was too smart
I threw a plum at her
Of course, she thew one back
We did this for months
Then the Moon told me her name
The Poet’s Tent
North or South, she travels
Always with her tent.
On chosen ground,
She slides its rods into the earth.
She places cloth on its frame.
A cloth she imagined
Something like a Mexican rebozo
Something like an Amish quilt
A cloth that exchanges colors
That switches latticework
Cloth that vibrates to the heartbeat of deer
Cloth that answers the whispers of trees
The poet smooths the floor
She unrolls her carpet
Psychic knots detach from its tendrils:
abandoned theories
dropped desires
jettisoned memories.
They pulse on her floor.
Soon to transform
Soon to become
feral opals
protean metals
iris crystals.
She prepares the door
Butterflies of every stripe arrive
© César Love. All rights reserved.
Cesar Love is a Latino poet influenced by the Asian masters. A resident of San Francisco’s Mission District, he is also an editor of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. He is the author of Birthright and While Bees Sleep.
cesarlovepoetry.yolasite.com
