Publications

"Melt" Sorin Oak Review

Every word that dripped from your lips  

Every breed; soft, harsh, said with a smile

They all became my stars

And though that night was dark

I wasn't lost, I knew the constellations well

And when I questioned them and their position

They melted into raindrops

And I started to drown

Still, as always, I tried to drink them up

Faster they fell

my dance in the rain turned to desperation

Filling my lungs, then throat

Words I could no longer swallow

I couldn’t keep my pretty mouth shut.

I had to choose: to swallow stars,

or to breathe.

"Homesick" Sorin Oak Review

I guess it’s the place I would call home-

six years old,

still- I remember the first summer

in that ancient adobe house.

Half a dozen apple trees, scattered over

acres. An acequia

made by men three centuries ago–

it snaked behind the straw and earthen home.

A forest of plum trees grew on either bank

three Arabian horses, chestnut

in the neighboring field.

Dad called them a family of pegasies-

Mom corrected him, pegasi-

Because we all lived up near the clouds,

atop the llano, atop the world.

One train, two bus rides, and half a heart later

Live by the clock, not by the sun

Streetcars screech, not inflicted by pain-

simply because it is what they were taught to do.

Night falls when the clock says,

not when the darkness comes

I want to unpack my haven, home

but it had to stay, I had to go

I’m told that time heals,

but no one here has any to spare.