—Poetry, Photos and Original Art by
Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal, West Covina, CA
THE RAIN AGAIN
There was the rain again.
It was not an expectation.
The water and the wind
fell from the skies, gentle
and cold. It was a fine rain;
where it gathered strength
I had to go inside. Green
became greener, blue
became bluer, white and
gray puffy clouds married
and divorced and made up
once again. The rain came
to stay today. It was not an
expectation. The news said
it was coming. How could I
doubt it when the meteorologist
flashed her kind smile as
she pointed at the map?
There was the rain again.
It was not an expectation.
The water and the wind
fell from the skies, gentle
and cold. It was a fine rain;
where it gathered strength
I had to go inside. Green
became greener, blue
became bluer, white and
gray puffy clouds married
and divorced and made up
once again. The rain came
to stay today. It was not an
expectation. The news said
it was coming. How could I
doubt it when the meteorologist
flashed her kind smile as
she pointed at the map?
WEDNESDAY MORNING
When it is too early to start
your day, you sit in your car
waiting for the doors of the
Office to open. The view from
the terrace parking lot is
breathtaking when your mind
is not too cluttered with
nonsense, so you appreciate
the view. It is not all that great
when you have to go number
one after drinking enough
coffee to get you through a
couple of days. You tough it
out and hold it in while you take
photos of the dark, dawn sky
which is giving way to sun-up.
You could still see the moon’s
fingernail in the horizon. In a
few minutes the doors will
open and you will be so knee-
deep in work that the view
outside will not linger on in
your mind no matter how
breathtaking and beautiful
it was this Wednesday morning.
VERMONT AVENUE
On Vermont Avenue
the fog outside
is amazingly
disappearing
all the sadness
from view. It is
hardly amazing
at all in reality.
The tents are still
there. The homeless
still have a long way
to go to find a home.
The traffic jams
are still there in
both directions.
There is beauty
in the distance
as well. It is out
of sight this Friday
morning. There are
mountains as far
as the eye could
see on a clear day.
I am certain they
are still there.
_____________________
NIGHT LIGHT
Night, light up your stars and moon.
In my car, driving in twilight, I need
more light to get by. I fear the witches
flying on their brooms. I do not think
they ever die. Night, light up the stars
and moon. I need something to
follow. In my car, I struggle most at
twilight with these failing eyes.
EVERYTHING ENDS
Because everything ends
I never learned to dance.
I never learned to love.
I never leaned to lose.
I go on without thoughts
of tomorrow because
tomorrow will end, even if
it returns again and again.
When I am gone the days
will go on. Each day they
will end until the next day.
I talk myself into feeling
different. But eventually
these feelings will end.
_____________________
BURY MY SOUL
You cannot bury my soul
beneath the soil. The deeper
I fall, the higher my soul will
soar. As I crawl and bleed,
I will forge ahead. I am fine
with this death you offer.
I have seen the coffins for sale.
Some are just wooden boxes.
I know my soul will not sleep there.
OPEN UP THE SKIES
Open up the skies.
Let the sparrows fly.
Open up the clouds.
Let a little rain escape.
Let her sing her song.
Find the trees sway
away to Mother
Nature’s morning song.
Open up the stars.
Let the light fall all
around. The eye is
a well that swells.
A tear will flow when
your poor heart aches.
Return to childhood
no longer if that is
where you hurt. Find
a sea in your dreams.
Find a sea with a
ship that will take you
to the end of the world.
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment.
—Carlos Santana
_____________________
Luis Berriozabal is with us today from Southern California, bringing us fine poems and photos, plus sketches he has made on his calendar. Thanks, Luis—we are grateful for your poetry and for the rain we need so badly!
•••Today (Sun., 2/27), 4pm: Cal. Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. presents Tim Kahl for a reading/discussion about The Intersection of Music and Poetry via Sound Design. Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/82146184841/.
___________________
—Medusa
—Public Domain Photo
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.
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that which was previously published—
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the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
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