Adobo Criollo Sergio Antonio Ortiz Rivera

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him) Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela) Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is) Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept) Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey Look across the Island into the Bay We are all islands till comes the day We cross the burning water Chorus.... A seagull wings across the sea Broken silence is what I dream Who has the words to close the distance Between you and me Chorus.... Steve Biko, Victoria Mxenge Neil Aggett Asimbonanga Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina (we have not seen our brother) Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is) Laph'wafela khona (In the place where he died) Hey wena (Hey you!) Hey wena nawe (Hey you and you as well) Siyofika nini la' siyakhona (When will we arrive at our destination)

held in ice as dancers in a spell leaves that fell on frozen over lakes— New-year bells bicker with the snow

watching him sleep in long alleys over a wild solitude I assume I’ve discovered the secret of life

he soiled his bushy muse with sequins— he ordered in a trick and called it dial-a-dick

we empty the dark in the dark . . . somehow someone finds by mistake a need fulfilled

he knew how to touch fire and leave unharmed . . . I knew how to open every door

we have rituals of regret, boys sent back home in body bags . . . we lie down in meadows and leave behind their corpses

wordless   as the flight of birds endless streams and mountains— Mandela

a quiet exit free  Nelson Mandela— from a prison rock quarry to the presidential suite 

Sergio Ortiz

Me publicaron unas poesías en una revista literaria Mexicana;  CUADRIVIO http://cuadrivio.net/2013/08/naufrago-de-sombras/ Tu sexo Extraño tu sexo ciñéndose a mi lengua. Amo tu racimo de sudores olvidados, la gota de coñac que resbala por tu muslo con la indiferencia de una nube que se aleja. Amo tus claras humedades: las de tu esperma tramposa las de tus ojos lacrimosos. Mi silencio con sus fauces te rodea.

I trust that horses run through vast canyons though I watch through the window with small flutters of fear

deceived, once again misled— it’s the pain of loving someone who doesn’t want you back

crickets and dragonflies— the sage ask that you understand there is a beast within you

touched by water, a spring... touched blindly to dress his wound, the injury of being

Cuando ya no contestas mis llamadas Al final tu cuerpo se apodera de la memoria. De una mente que no existe no hay nada que confiscar.

Tristeza Se funde la luz de tu vida sin embargo esto no es una plegaria ni un reclamo de herencia no consigue ser ni una disculpa, tampoco es un adiós la casa que me arrancaron sigue viva— visitada devotamente por sus muertos.

page after page of blank torsos longing— even the weathervanes look happy