Her spirit
was a
Mustang
destined
to
roam
free
Antidote
Her body
needed
to twist away
the tension
bend it’s back
to open the
chest
to flow in
Sync with breathe
to the now.
A memo
To my fellow teachers
Reading rosters
with names that
don’t roll off the tongue
the names that require
extra thought
extra effort and
the respect to be pronounced correctly
there’s always
an Appreciation
for the attempts
And there’s always a story
mine is of a soap opera
a Gypsy in love with a naval officer
the story of how
ye
Makes a j
Sound in
Spanish class
the only teachers
who could say it
without hesitation
my five-year-old self
changed my name to Sonia
while visiting Perú
because it made more friends
This for the names
that don’t appear on
souvenir cups
plates
or shirts
My student told me
most of my teachers
can’t say my name and it’s OK
and I told her no
they need to just say it
no matter how many times it takes.
La vida
Walking
Blindfolded with
a red scarf
on a tight rope
Senses electrified
Core strong
Feet fulfilled with faith
Celestial
Encoded in
our DNA
the spirit
of our
ancestors
Fly with us
Every day.
Harmony
If
We
understood
our oneness
Peace
would
Reign.
Wednesday Subway encounter
A couple
balancing
on each other
as the subway moves
Eyes locked
Hers searching
His sure
and smiling
Yesterday
Smooth Jazz
Sunday afternoon
easy like
black leather couches
flowing like
two lovers on a dance floor
Jazz sounds that smell
like mahogany.
Subway encounters
Sitting with navy blue
bleach stained sweatpants
La Virgencita dangling
from her young neck
Golden hoops and a messy bun
of black hair, reaching inside
an Andean woven handbag
for Jon Krakauer ‘s Missoula
Earmarked page 29
Reading, radiating
power.
Boundless
Writing
outside the lines
Creating
new parameters
Limitless
Riding the waves
of eternity.
