Saturday, August 20, 2022

Facing the Sun

 
—Poetry, Photos and Artwork by 
Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal, 
West Covina, CA



THURSDAY MORNING SUN

Thursday morning sun
is round and bright.
It spreads its light
all over town.

I can feel it on
my back and I
feel a burn that
will linger on.

I promised myself
not another
sun poem, like
Paul McCartney

writing silly love
songs, and here
I go again.
Why could it not

be Imagine or
Instant Karma?
Sometimes you just
need to write things

to get warmed up. If
you keep writing
something decent
will fill the page.
 
 
 

 
 
LOOKING OUT

Looking out at the railroad tracks.
I wondered how far they could take me?
I had not been out of the city for days.
I wish there was a bullet train I could take.

Looking up at the flying machines.
How far could they take me in a day?
I want to fly away. I wish I had wings.
To be airborne, that would be something.

I look at my feet and settle for a walk.
I go around the block a couple of times.
I need something to clear up my mind.
I need to breathe. Soon I will feel fine.

___________________

DISTORTED MIRRORS

I walk into a room of distorted mirrors.
The heads in each mirror are not my
head. I am the only one in this room.
I do not like any of these looks. There
are five mirrors in this room. One of
my heads is a perfect circle. I have no
eyes. I feel like breaking the glass. I
will leave jagged shards for sure. I
should keep my composure. I will walk
out of this room with a new perspective
on things. A bit of change affects me.
The agitation inside of me is strong.
I did not like the view inside this room.
 
 
 
 
 
 
TO BE HOME

I just want to be home.
I do not want to face the sun.
I am tired and sad. I
want the evening to come.

I could stand the moon a
little more and darkened skies.
In a way I just want
two colors, black and white.

I want to grow calm here.
The azure sky stimulates me
and it leads me on the wrong path.

My days at home soothe me.
I need to care for myself, which is
why I want to languish here.

___________________

THE ROAD HOME

The road home
was littered with leaves.
The wind placed them here.

It was Fall
as far as I could see.
I can do without

Winter. Summer I
take for granted. I

give Spring and Fall
to my memories.
 
 
 

 
 
I IMMERSED MYSELF IN RAIN

I saw a few precious snippets
of the sun today. Do you know
it made no difference to me?
The overcast sky gave me so
much joy. I saw what the sky
offered. How great were those
clouds that gave birth to rain?
I could not wait to go outside.
Soon I immersed myself in rain.
It could not get much better
than this. I felt fortunate after

months of drought. I saw a
rainbow that became two.
Life was good today. I was not
murdered by the sun for once.
I did not feel its burning knife.
How long had I pined for this rain?
For once I did not have to wait.
I followed the two rainbows
in my car. I was in a state of
ecstasy. I was the happiest man.

_____________________

Today’s LittleNip:


QUESTIONING DEATH
—Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal

Death, did you ever have
flesh on your bones?

Was your hand warm to
the touch?  I cannot

imagine seeing you
less than horrifying?

That skeleton, was it fit
and impeccably clothed?

Were you kind to your girl?
When I think of you, all

I see is that white skull.
I cannot see you with flesh.

Were your lips thirsty for
blood and souls, even then?

_______________________

Welcome back to the Kitchen, Luis! Our poets are starting to think about Fall, as in Luis’ poem, “The Road Home”. And rain! Where oh where is the rain?

The Way of Poetry workshop on Japanese poetry forms takes place this morning in Sacramento, and Third Sat. Art Walk’s special reading of Ekphrastic Poetry takes place in Placerville tonight. Plus, there’s the 11th Annual Banana Festival in Wm. Land Park in Sacramento all this weekend—surely a great source of inspiration! Plenty of poetry coming up—click UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS at the top of this column for details about these and other future poetry happenings in the NorCal area.

_______________________

—Medusa
 
 
 
—Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 






Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.

Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world—including
that which was previously published—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
 
 Ready for rain…