Bestiary # 1
Bestiary # 1
Bestiary
Today I took pleasure in distance,
seated alone in the willow forest,
eating rice with honey and milk,
then sleeping with the lights off.
I didn't dream about toads lurking
behind doors, or dead fish
in plastic bags. I didn't hide toys
in the closet, or matches, or candles.
It's not that I don't love you, Daddy.
It's that you created the distance
with your regimented humiliation.
I approached you as a hummingbird
only to feel winter’s frost.
A cardinal sang magical melodies,
kept me alive. I cured my injuries
as I could, and if unable
I gnawed, burned, spat,
covered with garlic and mud.
Yet the best herbarium was time
and distance—the most spectacular
of all my acts of wizardry.
Today I took pleasure in distance,
seated alone in the willow forest,
eating rice with honey and milk,
then sleeping with the lights off.
I didn't dream about toads lurking
behind doors, or dead fish
in plastic bags. I didn't hide toys
in the closet, or matches, or candles.
It's not that I don't love you, Daddy.
It's that you created the distance
with your regimented humiliation.
I approached you as a hummingbird
only to feel winter’s frost.
A cardinal sang magical melodies,
kept me alive. I cured my injuries
as I could, and if unable
I gnawed, burned, spat,
covered with garlic and mud.
Yet the best herbarium was time
and distance—the most spectacular
of all my acts of wizardry.
© Sergio A. Ortiz, June 21, 2010
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