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INVOCATION by Leticia
- When you leave what will you take with you?
I'm going to find it.
Even though, at times I'm ashamed of my too loud voice
that spills out of the glass like fizzy gas from a Pilsner poured
too hastily and then the aftertaste, the smell it
makes my lips and nose curl up and I'm
allergic to beer, anyway
My voice
I lost it
so I won't take it with me
I'm going to find it
I gave it all away already
safe ground
cobalt blue wishes for his comfort
warm yellow walls for him to lean his head against
the corners swept of cobwebs holding wishes and walls together
So I won't take pictures, papers, folders
I'll throw away the bills and laugh to myself
My laughter like small waves of sea water across my chest
that I'll take
But not
uncomfortable silences in too tight shoes under
uncertain stars
won't take anger stuck in my throat making me want to spit or cough
I'll be dressed in nothing
but my obsidian best
dagger on leather next to my bare chest
On the way out the door I'll wear
obsidian flint and boiling confidence
that whistles through the house leaving steam
in the cup and on my fingertips
Won't need a pen
so I'll leave ink and lead bouquets on the mantel
I'll dig out dye from canopies of fruit
growing free
I'll climb trees and bite into a cherry
red
and write my name over
6 or 7 ways on my stomach
so when I laugh
the letters dance and fly over my silence
But I didn't lose my song
it's here with me
and I'm just taking my time
And I haven't left yet really
and when I do I won't take anything actually
because all I need is inside
right?
From the Calaca chapbook,by Leticia Hernández-Linares.
Copyright © 2002
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