Adobo Criollo Sergio Antonio Ortiz Rivera

Redden Avatar of Evening Boys Dear Lord, I will stitch the borders  of this wound, tuft and suture  what already hurts, drag myself  and sniff like a dog with my  amputated leg at his feet. Oh Lord,  I will dress myself in a corset  after bathing in lemon blossom as if peeling the pristine undulation  of water to yield before the cruelty of his ferment, for I will seduce him.

Piel Déjame que te cante como cuando eras fuerte oleaje de silencios profundos, y era paz mi piel tersa, y era paz la proximidad de tus labios, y era paz la risa de la muerte que no espera junto a lo llano del rio cantando su canción de despedida.

Without Peace Let me sing as when you were strong surf and peace was on my smooth skin and peace was in the proximity of your lips  and peace was in death's laughter near the shallow part of the river singing its farewell song and nobody cared to listen

Textualmente Todavía eres camuflaje, bugarron entre paréntesis.  Yo que me visto de margaritas.  Con un beso en los dedos voy dando la bienvenida a brotes sensoriales cubiertos de hojas que incitan y desprecian a un mismo tiempo. Te privas textualmente del cuerpo y la poesía que en el habita. Vives en un espacio blanco.

glitter of dawn no stirring wind seduces her rest difficult times pig tails and skip ropes erode the dirt yellow stars roof full of fireflies lump on her head

the dream two real people breathe in a real room 

Corporal Limitations Even perversity   is useless.  The monster that dwells in the corner does not age.  Yet I go to bed earlier, and eat softer meat.  In the end I observe the empty curve from a blind window that shouts:  Enough!  

Limitaciones Corporales  Hasta la perversidad es inútil. El monstruo que mora en la esquina no envejece.  Nosotros nos vamos acostando temprano, comemos carnes más blandas, y al final observamos la esquina vacía desde la ventana ciega que grita: ¡Basta!

the wind stirs onboard battleship a binge of jeers

Senyru the dream two real people breathe in a real room 

a rigor seizes him headless specter in a winter moon across the sky’s rift more vivid and unnatural than any orchid 

luna caliente un par de amantes cruzan la pradera y se funden los cisnes huyen el río recuerda  su blancura

Tanka 53 hot moon in the meadow lovers pass by and melt swans leave the river remembers how white they are

le amó sin saber la razón prohibido el paso 

Tus Latidos fui el de la voz caída que arranco el silencio de tus labios con mi hipérbola estrecha y húmeda lista para tu punto de partida en ella se ruborizaba el tiempo con latidos fuertes de tu fuente de agua agridulce 

Reward You are locked up motionless in sleep I spend my time watching your body willing to awaken you're present

Your Voice For your benefit  oversight and passion  cleave I absorb the water  stop and pick up  your wasted voice it has spilled  on my breast--you lean  in silence.

La Verdad El silencio— agua del riachuelo siguiendo su curso sin resistencia—es no reconocer la verdadera razón del diluvio de emociones que han cercado al corazón.  

Luna El alba se acerca, llego la partida.  Los muros del cuarto   silencian tu adiós. Dime luna de escarcha, ¿Si le abro la puerta seguiré estando solo hasta la madrugada?

Athirst I said to the day: you know my secrets, you’ve seen the abyss where I make turquoise out of my daydreams, you’re acquainted with my laughter and the pain in my legs. I know none of your secrets , said the day.  I hide in the clouds whenever you weep and visit night when your desolate ghost needs to rest. poor scared shadow, anxious to sleep on the summit of a drunk tree in bloom.

The Cleansing He thought about funeral pyres  as he soaped her hair, the many times they had  played with shampoo only to end-up in bed.  Today it was different, her hands  were cold and her chest  had started to stiffen. Two flocks of pigeons  flying in different directions crossed each other  in the sky as bells  atop the churches tolled. He watched them through  the bedroom window in silence  and waited for the sun to finish going down before  drying  her cold feet.   

Dudas alargo mis dedos por tu punto de partida, esas facciones jóvenes que alborotan mis rodillas, y casi me arrepiento.  

Si en mil años te vuelvo a encontrar no sé si te seguiría.

Alboradas eres manantial de alboradas deshechas que recogí un ocaso lluvioso de verano. 

Together aloneness is the angel with a wooden sword we breathe and whisper in dim light, two lion kings

Ayer pensaba encontrarte triste pero has echado vuelo hacia el infinito con los pies descalzos y una sonrisa. ¿será que el amor humedeció tus alas y luego las puso a secar anticipando  la proxima tormenta?   eres el  acero  de la piel reseca de mi soledad. ay, como duele la  melancolía.  

Sin título 9 Te corto el pelo conversas  ríes cuando termino  te levantas vas al espejo regresas y me miras  fijamente.  

Sin título 8 Te quitas la ropa para poseerme a la fuerza y luego decir adiós tiemblo.

El reto es mirarte sin sentir el deseo de tenerte nuevamente

no hay paz en el amor libre ni dureza primaveral en el sueño que consume a almas

The Washing He thought about the pyre as he soaped her hair, the many times they had played with the shampoo only to end-up on the bed caressing.  This time it was different, her hands were cool and her breast had started to stiffen. Two flocks of pigeons crossed each other in the sky as the bells tolled atop the churches. He watched them through the bedroom window in silence and waited for the sun to finish going down before soaping her cold, dead feet.  

Exchanges He waited for the good-bye shrunk between his arms a seagull leaving its time for yours only to find a name he dropped one last word picked it up and slumped in silence

Adiós espere encogido entre mis brazos tu adiós gaviota que deja su tiempo para regresar al tuyo y solo encuentra un nombre.

Desperate I invent his memory recalling the gods   that have accompanied him—Ulysses think they might let you return I go to him tire out the echoes the reflection   the gaze the escape yet he does not return I continue a drop of blood reminds me that my flesh and yours exists I wait

Mend You straighten up when you breathe your hyperbola touches my climbing angle the point in a straight line into infinity

Reunited You take a puff of my cigarette the smoke ascends over the napkin —  your inaugurated lips and your discreet gaze I’ll see you later

Mistakes It’s the very last time I listen to myself say and you return 

Regret I give you a figure yet you choose your dreams and break  once you know my answer. Lamento Te esculpo escoges tus sueños te desgarras al saber  mi respuesta.

Razones  duermes en mis brazos sin saber distinguir tu calor del mío caminas sobre mi sombra con la necesidad emocional de un párroco arrodillado lloras porque no sabes cuando callar lo que te hace feliz callas pues confías  en tu ignorancia  más que en tu desdicha finalmente terminas siendo aquel a quien no  conoces

Partiendo escucho  pero tú no pareces   sino la voz de la existencia del otro .

Breaking Away I listen yet you don’t appear to be anything but the voice of the other's existence. 

Poem up at RED FEZ http://www.redfez.net/redfez/SubPage1.php?page=SubPoetry&ID=1232

Maybe the Moon Difficult times,  skip ropes  and pigtails  eroded in the breath of a dog-face-afternoon. Maybe the moon will come closer to whatever intelligent life is left in our dwindling universe and your wind will blow in my direction pure like the blood  that runs through the gates  of heaven, the deep color of clay.

 Tanka # 51 Definitions let them slide tragedy or miracle skeptic or vulnerable   love is caught in fear

On Friendship and Indiscretion  for Rey Smith She steps aside and watches  me struggle in silence as I cowered  from expressing my concern. The best I can do is talk  about my own shortcomings:  the impatience with hardship,  the many interruptions  in what almost seems  like one sided conversations.  Yet she already knows I am worried about his safety. He crashed  his car twice in the last month  and the binges lasted longer than the weekends.   I will have to move. But she stands beside me  silently praying I will not speak ill  of my best friend.

broken no time to fix  the iron  in your silence the dogs barked minutes later  there was  an earthquake next week I’ll wire the bottles to the counter

Selfless This friendship lasted over 42 years Rey Smith ~ may you rest in peace She sleeps with hummingbirds in a grape tree by the brook. When she wakes, she’ll dance weightless through a sea of light like a young bough and softly flutter her wings on my earlobes before she says a prayer and  returns to her Lord.

Salt They dressed you in wind to try and capture what cannot be captured. Then the oracles gave you white lightning so you could take on the eaters of your navel, horizontal men with little, if any, air stream. Your poetry spewed into the epitaphs of ghosts where chrome crosses shone inward and annatto phalluses burned with salt.  

No title # V for your benefit oblivion and passion  are cleft asunder I slide down a drop of pouring rain exiled  in a sip of water