Two Poems by Christian Garduno

 

The Starlite Motel

 

Why does so much of today seem like it happened yesterday-
like earlier today was a long, long time ago-
my reflection doesn’t recognize me
& I’m chasing my shadows in the dark
I look around my room like I’ve never even seen it before-
who lives here?
And who does all this stuff belong to??
pictures of me are a stranger in the frame
I can see myself in the screen-
but it’s someone I’ve never seen,
there is no ghost to blame,
like a child without a name,
it just suddenly, slowly seems so new again,
And it doesn’t really give me the creeps,
It’ll all come back to me tonight when I sleep



Yes, I did go on after you went,
through dark dusky hazy times,
living less and less each day,
I ended up moving down towards the Breakwater--
after you, seems like time went empty,
like someone turned off all the oxygen,
& the disco-ball returned into 100,000 broken mirror pieces…
Someone said on the radio that it’s the first day of Autumn--
And that must be it,
the first day after this brutal terrible beautiful magnificent Summer

 

Ms. Rainbow Around the Moon

Sunlights set the day on fire
feel the morning dew between the sands
butterfly in the willow you got me in your hands
nothing between us & our love
just the distance from the sun to the moon
living in numbered days stolen time
feel your whole body exhale
can’t stand up
can’t even think of the words
spinning twice my normal speed today
are you dead or just not dancing??
she never goes away she just goes around
I light six pages to keep us warm
nothing between us the heavens beneath us
ashes in our bed girl
lull me with your eyelashes
seven cents in the love jar
ocean beach write for days to keep us in touch
crawling across numbered pages stealing time
feel everybody breathing at once
think it's just yourself at first
clear across the ash we make our homes with our heads
initiate the dawn burn baby burn
my friend, the moon has gone down
sleeping on the oceans shoulder
dreaming within a halo over and over
awake the daybreak
the beautiful sun across your shining face

Christian Garduno’s work can be read in over 90 literary magazines. He is the recipient of the 2019 national Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry. Garduno is a Finalist in the 2020-2021 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Writing Contest. He lives and writes along the South Texas coast with his wonderful wife Nahemie and young son Dylan.