Saturday, 2 December 2023

Five Poems by Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

 



Block Party

 

Out here in the tent

they are having a block party.

The table is a tree stump.

It is the best party there ever was.

 

Someone busted a knee.

Someone lost the ability to see.

Someone set fire to the trees.

Someone discarded their sex appeal.

 

All were invited to come.

The scene was far from serene.

All were invited to come,

except for me, except for me.

All were invited to come.

It did not take long for everyone to be gone.

 

Someone brought a baby.

Someone brought the fog.

Someone brought some barking dogs.

Someone brought some cold hot dogs.

 

Someone brought their cat.

You should have seen the chase.

Someone brought a carrot rope.

I am so glad I did not go.



The Voices in My Head

 

Sleeping last night
as the voices in my head
talked and talked
in my dreams.


Any time of day
my head fills with voices.
In my dream
they talk about nothing.
I have learned to ignore them.
I would love for
them to divorce me.
It is getting to be too much,


For years and years
they are happy to share
a space in my head
and in my dreams.

The inquietude of
the voices leave me drained.
I need my rest.
A good night’s sleep.
My mind needs a reset.
It feels so paralyzed.
I hope tomorrow
will be a better tomorrow.
But it is always the same.

I get so sick
of their presence.
Each day my life gets
a little more strange.
I write this poem
to the most fatiguing voice.



Shine Out

 

In sad silence

I watch

the stars

clustering.

 

The bone-coloured

moon shines

out across

all regions.

 

There is twinge of

gold on

its face and a

blood-red glow.

 

In the flowers

lament

there is a

bright spotlight.

 

The tender petals

blush with

grief, no longer

concealed in

darkness and

spinning thoughts.



Out Of My Control

 

Here we go,

Who took the rose petals

from my thorn flower?

What is this?

I took a low blow straight

from the depths of hell.

 

I’m alive,

but I’m fresh out of dough.

It’s out of my control.

My money’s

spent as soon as I’m paid

for shit bought years ago.

 

Do the math.

Life is so unkind when

poverty hounds us all.

Go to bed.

Wave the white flag in

the air and retreat.

 

Hit the streets.

Put up a mansion tent

where there is no rent.

Pay no tax

like that crooked old Prez

and save your money

 

for rain days.

Tell the creditors it

is out of my control.

My money’s

run out to pay for shit

bought many years ago.



Count The Stars

 

I count the stars,

those that have watched me

in my darkest days.

 

I have my eye on them.

I come announced and unannounced.

 

You know who you are,

you stars hidden behind the clouds.

 

Slide down, let’s talk about light.

No one’s going to hurt you.

You will be closely guarded.

 

Do you know my name?

Tell me yours.

 

I am sure-footed at night because of you.

I walk under a cradle of light

 

practicing in the silences of solitude.

The light is all yours and mine.

 

I have reached out for you.

I have been told you are dead.

 

I only see three of you

this evening.

 

Make the light mine I beg you.

Let me count the ways.




Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal lives in Californian and works in Los Angeles. His poetry has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Escape into Life, Kendra Steiner Editions, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Unlikely Stories, and Yellow Mama Webzine, which included his drawings in their latest issue. 





 


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