La Rosa

You called my name,

I remember–you painted
my storms after the century burned. You left me.
My days, well, you said, they were lives
without discovery, you used that word–
Discovery. My rouge voices fascinated you,
the unkempt nights in my tresses, all
radiations drawn in between my heart and
your heart. We were Einstein's chalk lines
crossing over stars and wide seas
into timelessness. Yes, the lascivious poisons
of my thorns were necessary, they were the steps
I took to reach my heights. Each kiss,
an ascension. Now the vase stands as a reminder
of your ashes. The house, arranged in perfect
shadows, an illusion too. I flourish with these
new silences & new loves. I use the word silences

for sky.

-- Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Felipe Herrera